In 2006, which American medical device company acquired Guidant for $27 billion?

In 2006, Boston Scientific acquired Guidant for approximately $27 billion.

Guidant was a major American medical-device company focused on cardiac rhythm management and cardiovascular intervention. Its products included pacemakers, implantable cardioverter-defibrillators, stents, guidewires and balloon catheters. The company became the subject of a fierce takeover contest after Johnson & Johnson agreed to buy it in 2004.

Boston Scientific entered the battle with an unsolicited offer in December 2005. After several competing bids, it raised its proposal to $27.2 billion, or $80 per share, with financial assistance from Abbott Laboratories. Guidant accepted Boston Scientific's offer after judging it superior to Johnson & Johnson's bid, and the transaction closed on 21 April 2006.

Abbott was involved in the deal but was not the principal acquirer. It purchased Guidant's vascular-intervention business for roughly $4.5 billion, while Boston Scientific retained the cardiac-rhythm and other operations. That split explains why Abbott can sometimes appear in accounts of the transaction, but Boston Scientific is the quiz's correct answer.