WASHINGTON, Jan. 11 (UPI) -- J&J may raise its bid for Guidant Wednesday in an 11th-hour bid to wrest the company from Boston Scientific.
According to a report on CNBC, J&J will possibly announce it is upping its most recent offer to buy Guidant for $63 per share, or roughly $22 billion.
The news comes as Guidant shareholders are expected to vote Jan. 31 on Boston Scientific's bid of $25 billion, or $72 per share.
J&J had originally offered $25 billion for the device maker but reduced its bid on concerns over a spate of recalls last year of Guidant implantable cardiac defibrillators and pacemakers.
Word that J&J might once again raise the stakes in the breathless bidding war over Guidant comes as a surprise as J&J late last year called its lowered offer "fair."
J&J earlier this week reaffirmed its plans to consummate it own acquisition of Guidant.
