General Electric is tol buy two of Abbott Laboratories' diagnostics business units for $8.13 billion in cash.
GE said it would buy Abbott's primary in-vitro diagnostics, which involve routine laboratory tests, and its point-of-care diagnostics business - tests done typically at a patient's bedside such as blood chemistry work.
Sharon Higgins, IMDA
News of the acquisition prompted fears for the jobs of workers at Abbott's plants in Ireland.
GE said it would be seeking cost efficiencies but also said it was too early to say what impact the acquisition would have on jobs and plants here.
Abbott's more-profitable molecular diagnostics business, including sophisticated tests for bladder cancer and susceptibility to breast cancer, and its lucrative diabetes-care businesses are not part of the transaction.
Abbott's diagnostics division includes plants in Sligo and Longford. These employ around 500 and 800 people respectively. The company has eight facilities in Ireland, employing 3,400 people.
GE, the world's second-largest company by market capitalisation, has been quite active on the deal front through the first weeks of 2007. Including the Abbott deal, GE has disclosed plans for $14.83 billion worth of takeovers.
Director of Ibec's Irish Medical Devices Association Sharon Higgins said acquisitions and mergers are now commonplace in this important global sector and it is "thus inevitable that ownership of individual sites operating here will change from time to time".
"The Irish medical devices sector continues to develop in a knowledge driven market, which reflects the global changes in Ireland's industrial base and the significant evolution in Ireland's export capabilities.
"The Irish medical device sector currently employs in excess of 26,000 people and is an internationally renowned centre, with over 70 per cent of the world's leading companies operating here. Employment in the sector increased by almost 100 per cent in the last decade.
'While Ireland has reinvented its attractions for inward investment over the past seven years, we must constantly recognise changes in global conditions and in our own circumstances.
"In a fast changing global environment, all companies must be competitive in every aspect of their operations; however jobs are more sustainable in companies which have a highly skilled workforce, where there is efficient use of resources and technology, substantial investment on the ground, market proximity, supplier links, R&D support and excellent service to customers. These strengths are the essence of the medical devices sector in Ireland."