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File photo of the reactor at Chalk River, Ont.

The bid by an American company to take over iconic Canadian medical isotope maker Nordion Inc. has passed its final hurdle.

Industry Canada has now approved the deal, which will see Nordion sold for about $800-million (U.S.) to Sterigenics International Inc., an Illinois-based company that specializes in sterilization services for medical device makers, as well as pharmaceutical and food companies.

The approval, under the terms of the Investment Canada Act, was the last regulatory nod the companies needed to complete the sale.

It has been a long process since the proposed arrangement with Sterigenics was first announced in March.

In early June, Nordion shareholders voted 76.4 per cent in favour of the deal. Two-thirds support was necessary for the sale to go through. Later that month, the federal government enacted legislation that relaxed foreign ownership restrictions on Nordion, allowing it to be sold to a foreign owner.

Then last month Nordion was told that Canada's competition watchdog did not intend to challenge the sale, and that the U.S. government sees no problem with it either.

The company said it expects to close the sale around August 6, and when it is done shareholders will receive $13 for each share they hold.

Nordion was created almost seven decades ago as the radium sales department of Eldorado Mining and Refining Ltd. It took over the sale of radio isotopes from the nuclear research facility at Chalk River, Ont., before becoming part of Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. in the 1950s.

It was part of MDS Health Group for two decades before being spun off as a standalone public company in 2010.

The company currently has two core businesses: selling systems that use radiation to sterilize medical devices and foods; and the processing of medical isotopes for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases.

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