Medtronic to buy Invatec for up to $500 million

Fridley-based Medtronic's stock closed up 1.7 percent Monday after the company announced some acquisitions, as well as federal approval of a new treatment.

Medtronic says it's acquiring the Italian company Invatec, a maker of cardiovascular intervention devices, as well as two affiliated companies.

Medtronic will make an initial payment of $350 million for Invatec, and up to $150 million more if Invatec meets performance benchmarks. Invatec's line includes angioplasty balloons and stents, which are tiny mesh tubes that prop open clogged arteries.

Invatec employs about 900 workers, mainly in Italy and Switzerland.

Medtronic also received federal approval of a first-of-a-kind heart valve that can be implanted without open heart surgery.

Regulators approved Medtronic's device, called Melody, under a program for devices that treat diseases affecting fewer than 4,000 patients per year. Under the policy, such devices are approved for limited use based on safety and "probable benefit."