Covidien has closed its $860 million acquisition of Given Imaging and its swallowed pill-sized camera technology.The purchase close, announced Thursday, gives Dublin, Ireland-based Covidien additional scale and scope to serve the multibillion dollar global gastrointestinal market, the company said in a news release.

Under terms of the merger agreement, Covidien has acquired all outstanding shares of Yoqneam, Israel-based Given Imaging for $30 per share. That comes out to an aggregate consideration of about $860 million, net of cash and short-term investments acquired."Acquiring Given Imaging significantly expands Covidien's GI Solutions business and supports the company's strategy to comprehensively address key global specialties and procedures," said Bryan Hanson, group president of Medical Devices & U.S. for Covidien.The major technology in the Given portfolio is the PillCam--a minimally-invasive, swallowed optical endoscopy technology for the small bowel, esophagus and colon that does not require sedation of the patient.The Covidien acquisition was first announced in December.The close of the purchase comes weeks after Given Imaging announced that it had received FDA approval of its PillCam Colon 2 as a minimally invasive follow-up for patients receiving an incomplete colonoscopy. It may be used for detection of colon polyps in patients for whom a complete evaluation of the colon was not technically possible.

Chris Newmarker is senior editor of MPMN and Qmed. Follow him on Twitter at @newmarker.