US medical conglomerate Johnson & Johnson is preparing to buy Swiss medical devices maker Synthes, Inc, according to Switzerland Trade and Investment. The acquisition, likely to close in the first half of 2012, is valued at over $21 billion and represents J&J’s largest buy ever and largest M&A transaction of the year to date. Synthes, through its five product groups (trauma, spine, cranio-maxillofacial, biomaterials, and power tools) develops, produces, and markets instruments, implants, and biomaterials for the surgical fixation, correction, and regeneration of the human skeleton and its soft tissues.

Synthes employs nearly 3,000 at its European headquarters in Canton Solothurn, Switzerland, and its North American headquarters is in West Chester, PA.  

Brunswick, NJ-based Johnson & Johnson is said to be the world’s largest and most diverse medical devices and diagnostics company, with more than 250 operating companies in 60 countries, including Switzerland, employing approximately 115,000 people.