London

ROYAL Philips NV's US$1.7 billion deal to buy Spectranetics Corp, a US maker of devices to treat cardiac disease, shows the Dutch company is moving more aggressively to bolster its growing health-care business.

Philips will offer US$38.50 a share in cash for the Colorado Springs-based company, according to a statement on Wednesday. The price is 27 per cent above Spectranetics' closing level on Tuesday. Philips also will buy back as much as 1.5 billion euros (S$2.4 billion) of its own stock to offset share dilution from an employee incentive programme.