Boston Scientific Hikes Guidant Bid

Boston Scientific Corp. on Thursday raised its $25-billion takeover bid for Guidant Corp. to wrest the cardiac-device maker away from rival suitor Johnson & Johnson.

Boston Scientific nudged its offer slightly higher to $73 a share, up from $72 a share, and made other concessions to appease Guidant’s concerns about antitrust scrutiny or the timing of the deal’s completion.

The new offer is worth about $24.8 billion, up from an earlier bid of about $24.5 billion.

The revamped offer includes a protection concerning a fluctuation in Boston Scientific’s stock price.