GE to Acquire Instrumentarium for $2 Billion

In a move that will give the company a strong presence in the perioperative and critical care markets, GE Medical Systems (Wauksha, WI, USA) has agreed to acquire Instrumentarium Corp. (Helsinki, Finland;) for about US$2 billion in cash. Upon completion of the transaction, GE intends to combine the operations of Instrumentarium with GE Medical Systems. Helsinki will become the European headquarters for GE's Information Technologies business.

Instrumentarium is a global medical technology company. Most of its sales (80%) are to the anesthesia and critical care market. The company also operates in the diagnostic imaging market. Subsidiaries include Datex-Ohmeda and SpaceLabs Medical, the latter acquired in July 2002. Instrumentarium's 2001 sales were in excess of $1 billion. The company has manufacturing facilities in Finland, Sweden, Germany, and the United States, and a network of distributors covering more than 100 countries.

"Instrumentarium is an excellent company with an outstanding reputation among healthcare customers,” said Jeffrey R. Immelt, chairman and CEO of GE. "This is an extremely important business for GE, and we plan to grow Instrumentarium even further by investing in new technologies to improve clinical workflow, physician confidence, and patient outcomes.”






Related Links:
www.gemedical systems.com
Instrumentarium