Briefs

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) is in talks to acquire medical device maker Synthes in what may be the 125-year-old company's biggest deal ever. Valued at $19.4 billion, Synthes has an operating margin of 35 percent, the highest among medical-products makers worth more than $5 billion in sales, according to Bloomberg data. The acquisition would increase J&J's share of the $5.5 billion orthopedic trauma market to 54 percent, from about 5 percent, and nearly double the company's 11 percent share of the $9 billion spinal-care market, according to analysts at Wells Fargo (WFC) and Sanford C. Bernstein (AB). J&J's image has been hit as a result of over 50 drug and device recalls since the start of 2010.

Wal-Mart (WMT) on Apr. 18 agreed to buy social media company Kosmix for an undisclosed sum to expand its online operations. Mountain View (Calif.)-based Kosmix, founded in 2004, will be part of the retail giant's newly formed @WalmartLabs unit, which explores how consumers shop using social media and mobile phones, the company says. Kosmix founders Venky Harinarayan and Anand Rajaraman, pioneers of online shopping, sold their first company, Junglee, to Amazon.com (AMZN) in 1998.