J&J to buy medical device maker Synthes for $21.3B

GENEVA (AP) - Johnson & Johnson says it will buy U.S.-Swiss medical device maker Synthes Inc. for 21.3 billion.

The health giant said Wednesday it will purchase Synthes with about $2 billion of cash and the rest in stock.

Synthes makes surgical instruments, implants and materials for repairing bone and soft tissue. The sale would make its multibillionaire chairman, Dr. Hansjorg Wyss, the richest man in Switzerland.

Wyss owns a 40 percent share of the company and his family's trust owns a further 8 percent.