Australia's Cochlear falls after UK blocks part of Oticon Medical purchase

Cochlear

23/06/2023 05:09

** Australian hearing device maker Cochlear Ltd  COH.AX 
falls as much as 2.6% to A$230.240, its lowest since March 30
    ** Says UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) concluded
COH's acquisition of Oticon Medical's cochlear implants business
(CI business) does not raise competition concerns
    ** However, CMA blocked acquisition of Oticon's bone
conduction implants business citing potential impact to
competition
    ** COH and Oticon's parent, Denmark-based Demant
 DEMANT.CO , to now pursue a transfer of CI business at a zero
headline purchase price
    ** Brokerage Jarden cuts price target to A$221.42 from
A$224.71, retains "neutral" rating
    ** Says reduction in Oticon earnings over the long-term
outweighs the benefit from deal payment of A$170 mln ($114.00
mln)
    ** COH heads for third straight session of losses and worst
day since June 6, if trend holds
    ** COH up 15.8% this year, as of last close, vs a 2.2%
increase in the ASX 200 benchmark index  .AXJO  


($1 = 1.4912 Australian dollars)

 (Reporting by Sameer Manekar in Bengaluru)
 ((Sameer.Manekar@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter: https://twitter.com/sameer_manekar))