Agfa buys Heartlab, completes purchase of Italian RIS vendor

Agfa-Gevaert announced Wednesday that it concluded the acquisition of Heartlab, Inc., a leading designer and supplier of image and information networks for cardiology. The transaction is valued at $132.5 million.

Agfa and Heartlab, which was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Westerly, R.I., have been collaborating since December 2003, within a distribution agreement for Agfa's IMPAX for Cardiology. This solution allows smooth integration of radiology and cardiology, and enables information to flow more efficiently within the healthcare enterprise and facilitates management of the electronic patient record.

The acquisition expands on other recent acquisitions to strengthen Agfa's leadership position in imaging technology and healthcare IT. In that vein, Agfa also announced Wednesday that it exercized options to acquire the remaining share of Italian radiology information system provider Med2Rad.

According to the terms and conditions of the agreement concluded in 2002, the transaction price for the 70 percent of the shares Agfa did not yet own -- amounts to $4 million and was paid in cash.

Agfa and Med2Rad have been co-operating since 2000, when Agfa became the exclusive distributor of the Med2Rad Radiology Information System. In 2002, Agfa acquired a 30 percent participation in Med2Rad.

Med2Rad, which has in-depth knowledge of the Italian healthcare market, is expected to become a key component in the roll-out of Agfa's EPR (Electronic Patient Record) portfolio based on ORBIS-technology acquired through GWI earlier this year.

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