Average prices of gasoline in Maine reach $3.81 a gallon

A price-monitoring website says average retail gasoline prices in Maine have risen 2.6 cents per gallon in the past week to $3.81 per gallon.

According to MaineGasPrices.com, Sunday’s average price in Maine was 93.6 cents per gallon higher than it was the same day one year ago, and 23.7 cents per gallon higher than a month ago.

MaineGasPrices.com said that Sunday’s $3.81-per-gallon price in Maine also compares with the national average, which has increased 3.7 cents per gallon in the last week to $3.80 per gallon.

Health provider Amedisys to buy hospice company

Home health services provider Amedisys Inc. said Monday that it has agreed to buy Boston-based hospice company Beacon Hospice for about $125 million.

Beacon has 23 free-standing locations and one inpatient unit, serving Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Connecticut. Amedisys said Beacon’s 2021 revenue was about $80 million.

Amedisys expects the acquisition to add 5 cents to 7 cents to its 2011 earnings, excluding one-time costs related to the deal.

Amedisys CEO William F. Borne said Beacon is a “great complement to our home health business,” with many of its hospice locations matching the market presence of its existing home health services business.

Beacon’s 1,300 average daily patients will increase the number of hospice patients under Amedisys’s care by nearly 40 percent.

Shares of Amedisys slid 50 cents to $34.06 amid a broader market decline.

Potential Greek default triggers market concerns

Europe’s debt crisis returned to haunt markets Monday as investors fretted over a possible Greek default and the impact of huge gains for a nationalist party in Finland.

Portugal also began discussions on a financial bailout, and Spain had to pay a much higher interest rates to tap bond investors.

Although borrowing costs for countries like Greece, Ireland and Portugal have risen sharply higher in recent weeks, the euro managed to brush off debt crisis concerns, hitting a 15-month high last week above $1.45. The currency has been buoyed by predictions that the European Central Bank will follow April’s first interest rate hike in nearly three years with more policy tightening.

That benefits the euro if investors don’t expect others, such as the Federal Reserve, to do the same.

However, there was little respite for the currency Monday in a stream of negative developments, which sent the euro down 1.3 percent to $1.4222. Earlier it had dropped to $1.4157, its lowest level since April 5.

Johnson & Johnson in talks to buy Swiss implant maker

Health giant Johnson & Johnson could boost its revenue and profit in the short term by buying Synthes Inc., while quickly gaining a dominant position in the growing market for orthopedic surgery products.

The Swiss maker of implants and instruments for bone and tissue repair confirmed Monday that it’s in talks about a possible purchase by Johnson & Johnson, one of the world’s biggest makers of medical devices, drugs and consumer health products.

The sale of Synthes could make multibillionaire chairman Dr. Hansjorg Wyss the richest man in Switzerland.

He owns 40 percent of the company, and his family’s trust owns an additional 8 percent, according to Synthes’ 2010 annual report.

As reported last Friday by the Wall Street Journal, the rumored purchase price is $20 billion, an amount far bigger than a typical J&J acquisition.

Buying Synthes would double J&J’s market position in spine repair products, said analyst Linda Bannister of Edward Jones.

Medical devices became the largest of J&J’s three businesses in 2009. Their appeal? They don’t see sales suddenly plunge when generic competition arrives, as drugs do. And they’re far more profitable than commodity over-the-counter drugs such as Motrin and Tylenol.

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