MAQUET Sets up New International Marketing and Service Organizations

RASTATT, Germany, July 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

With new subsidiaries in Colombia, South Africa and South East Europe and the take-over of the Cardiac Assist business division from USCI in Japan, MAQUET is continuing its international expansion strategy.

With the new establishment of three subsidiaries and an acquisition by MAQUET Cardiovascular in Japan, MAQUET GmbH & Co. KG is on its way to expand its international business activities within the coming months. MAQUET is a world-wide leading supplier of complete solutions and therapy applications for OR, hybrid OR, cath lab and intensive care units. The company is part of the listed Swedish group GETINGE AB and has its headquarters in Rastatt, Germany. "The new subsidiaries are located in regions that we expect to have a major market potential for our products and therapy solutions in the long term. In particular, emerging economies have to live up to the increased health care expectations of their population. And other countries, such as in South East Europe, see the need to modernize existing health care facilities step by step to bring them up to date," says Michael Rieder, Executive Vice President Sales & Marketing, Getinge Medical Systems.

Subsidiaries on three continents

MAQUET South East Europe Ltd., headquartered in Belgrade, already registered its first successes before the company's official start on July 1, 2012, for example when it signed a contract for the installation and equipping of 14 operating theatres in Szeged, Hungary. The company is represented by distributors in a total of ten South East European countries and strives for a 100% increase in turnover by the end of 2013.

MAQUET Colombia S.A.S., headquartered in Bogotá, is also expecting a clear sales increase in the next year. "We have seen much interest already in MAQUET products but also in GETINGE products, so that we expect a sales increase of about 20% in 2013," reckons Guillermo Mainzhausen, Managing Director of MAQUET Colombia. The company which will actively start working the market in mid-July is planning to establish itself as the hub of the Andean countries Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador and Peru. The next steps will be the expansion of marketing and service activities and the setting up of a comprehensive network of dealers.

At the beginning of next year, MAQUET will for the first time have an independent marketing and service organisation on the African continent. MAQUET South Africa (PTY) Ltd. is headquartered in Johannesburg. The company is planning to further expand the dealership structure for the opening of the African market, starting in selected countries, to meet the growing demand for better medical care throughout the continent.

MAQUET Japan takes over Cardiac Assist business division from USCI

With the acquisition of the Cardiac Assist business division from USCI Japan Ltd., MAQUET Japan K.K. intensifies its marketing activities in the growing cardiac and vascular medicine market. Both companies have already been cooperating in the technology and marketing sectors since 2008 when MAQUET took over DATASCOPE. "We are happy to have acquired the experienced USCI sales team. This enables us, on the one hand, to consolidate our market leadership in the field of IABP and, on the other, to offer our customers even better service due to our enhanced presence." explains Hideaki Yamashita, President of MAQUET Japan K.K.

With the newly founded subsidiaries, MAQUET is now running a total of 53 international marketing and service organisations. The enterprise's dynamic development is also reflected by the workforce and sales figures. Since its acquisition by GETINGE AB in the year 2000, the number of employees has risen from 1,400 to 6,000 at the end of the financial year 2011 and sales have developed appropriately - from €154 million to almost €1.4 billion.

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INFORMATION ABOUT MAQUET

As a trusted partner for hospitals and clinicians since 1838, Maquet is a global leader in medical systems that advance surgical interventions, cardiovascular procedures and critical care. Maquet develops and designs innovative products and therapeutic applications for the operating room, hybrid OR/cath lab, intensive care unit and patient transport within acute care hospitals, improving outcomes and quality of life for patients.

Cardiovascular specialties include intra-aortic balloon counterpulsation (IABC) therapy for cardiac assist; coronary artery bypass surgery; aortic and peripheral vascular surgery; and extracorporeal circulation. Additional ground-breaking therapies in thrombus management, cardiothoracic and biosurgery complement the portfolio.

The Critical Care portfolio includes market-leading intensive care ventilators and anesthesia machines.

Maquet also equips Surgical Workplaces with critical infrastructure such as flexible room design for OR and ICU; OR tables; lights and ceiling supply units; and OR integration for image data management.

Maquet is a subsidiary of the publicly listed Swedish Getinge Group. In 2011, Maquet generated nearly 1.4 billion Euro which is more than half of the Group's annual revenue of 2.4 billion Euros. The Getinge Group has 13,000 employees worldwide, including around 6,000 Maquet employees in 50 international sales and service organizations, as well as a network of more than 280 sales representatives. For more information please visit http://www.maquet.com and http://www.getingegroup.com.

MAQUET - The Gold Standard.

MAQUET GmbH & Co. KG                              [go] connecting
Kehler Straße 31                                  Bierstadter Str. 17
76437 Rastatt, Germany                            65189 Wiesbaden
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Ralf Uwe Schmitt                                  Ulrike Goßmann
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