(Reuters) - Medical equipment company Medtronic Plc <MDT.N> will acquire Israel-based Mazor Robotics <MZOR.TA> for about $1.64 billion (1.24 billion pounds) in an all-cash deal, or $1.34 billion net of Medtronic's existing stake in Mazor, the companies said on Thursday.
Medtronic agreed to pay $58.50 per American Depository Share or $29.25 (104.80 shekels) per ordinary share in cash and the boards of both companies unanimously approved the deal.
Medtronic, which held a stake of about 11 percent prior to the deal, said the deal was expected to be modestly dilutive to its fiscal 2019 adjusted earnings per share.
The companies in 2016 had entered a multi-phase strategic partnership in which Medtronic made equity investments in Mazor, a maker of guidance systems for spine and brain surgeries, and distributed its products.
The deal is expected to close during Medtronic's third quarter ending January 25, 2019 and is subject to regulatory approvals and agreement from Mazor's shareholders.
"The acquisition of Mazor adds robotic-assisted guidance systems to our expanding portfolio of enabling technologies," said Geoff Martha, executive vice president and president of the Restorative Therapies Group at Medtronic.
Medtronic said it expects the acquisition "to generate a double-digit return on invested capital by year four, with an increasing contribution thereafter."
(Reporting by Maria Ponnezhath in Bengaluru and Ari Rabinovitch in Tel Aviv; editing by Jason Neely)
