ATS Medical shareholders approve $370M sale to Medtronic

The shareholders of cardiovascular technology firm ATS Medical (NASDAQ: ATSI) voted in favor of the company’s $370 million sale to neighboring device giant Medtronic Inc. (NYSE: MDT).

About 79 percent of the company’s outstanding shares were voted, with about 95 percent of those in approval of the $4-per-share deal, according to a statement from Plymouth, Minnesota-based ATS.

The deal was first announced in April. The acquisition figures to strengthen Medtronic’s position in the replacement heart valve and atrial fibrillation markets.

Medtronic has pushed aggressively into the heart valve market recently, spending more than $1 billion last year to acquire CoreValve Inc. in Irvine, California, and Ventor Technologies Ltd. in Israel.

It’s no surprise that ATS shareholders eagerly embraced the deal. The company lost $6.3 million last year, a significant improvement over 2008 when it lost $19.3 million. Prior to the deal’s announcement, ATS’ stock hadn’t climbed as high as $4 in five years.

ATS expects the deal to officially close in about a week.