UPDATE 1-Boston Sci completes unit sale, prepays debt

CHICAGO Jan 3 (Reuters) - Boston Scientific Corp (BSX.N) said on Monday it completed the previously announced sale of its neurovascular business to Stryker Corp (SYK.N) and has prepaid $600 million in senior notes that were due June 15.

The Natick, Massachusetts-based medical device maker, which is revamping its product portfolio as its core markets in heart stents and implantable defibrillators have slowed, said it plans to take a pretax charge of $15 million in the fourth quarter for accelerated interest expense on the prepayment.

That equals about $9 million, or 1 cent a share, after tax.

Shares of Boston Scientific were up 1.1 percent at $7.65 in early afternoon.

The company is focused on paying down a large debt load it accumulated in the 2006 acquisition of Guidant Corp.

It also plans to record a pretax gain from the sale of the neurovascular business of more than $500 million in the first quarter and said 2011 earnings per share, excluding the impact of the gain on the sale, would be diluted by about 4 to 6 cents on both a GAAP and adjusted basis.

Orthopedic device maker Stryker, which paid $1.5 billion for the Boston Scientific unit, is pursuing faster-growth opportunities after sales of its hip and knee replacement joints also slowed in the recession. Its shares were up 1.9 percent at $54.73 on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Susan Kelly, editing by Matthew Lewis)