Philips to Acquire Leading Brazilian Critical Care Company

In a move that further bolsters its strategy of penetrating high-growth emerging critical care markets by way of economically priced devices, Netherlands-based Royal Philips Electronics announced its agreement to acquire Dixtal Biomédica e Tecnologia, a leading Brazilian manufacturer of patient monitoring and critical care devices.

Dixtal (São Paulo, Brazil) is a leading Brazilian manufacturer of in-hospital patient monitoring, anesthesia, ventilation, and ECG (Electrocardiogram) equipment as well as other sensors for vital sign measurements. Dixtal will become part of the Patient Monitoring business within Philips' Healthcare sector. Philips expects Dixtal's financial results to be consolidated as of the third quarter of 2008. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The announcement marks another step Philips (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) is taking to expand its presence in high-growth healthcare markets in emerging economies, following the company's earlier announced acquisitions of healthcare companies Shenzhen Goldway in China and VMI Sistemas Medicos in Brazil.

In commenting on the deal, Mr. Daurio Speranzini Júnior, Senior Vice-President of Philips Healthcare Latin America, said: "Emerging markets represent a real opportunity for us to keep growing our healthcare business at Philips. If you just take Latin America, our segment of the healthcare market in 2007 was estimated to be valued at approximately EUR 1.2 billion, and growing at twice the rate of developed markets. Acquiring Dixtal will help us further tap into that growth.”

Mr. Speranzini Júnior continued, "In the hospital, a key component of critical care is patient monitoring, and Philips already enjoys a leading global position in this market. Acquiring Dixtal will not only extend Philips' product portfolio to include Dixtal's mid- to economy-range patient monitoring products, but through this move we'll gain access to other key components of critical care – Dixtal's anesthesia machines and its invasive ventilation products. Accordingly, this acquisition complements Philips' recent move into the non-invasive ventilation business through our acquisition earlier this year of US-based Respironics. And since Dixtal and Philips use the same distribution channels vis-à-vis hospitals for all of our critical care businesses, we can expect significant synergies coming out of this collaboration.”

Founded in 1978, Dixtal is a privately held healthcare company headquartered in São Paulo, Brazil. Dixtal employs approximately 300 people, mainly in Brazil, of which 60 work in R&D. "Since being founded 30 years ago, we've focused on helping hospitals provide the optimum in critical care. We believe that combining our culture and capabilities with those of a world class company like Philips will help us serve society better and expand our presence in Latin America and beyond,” said Albert Holzhacker, President of Dixtal.

Over the last four years, Dixtal has tripled its revenues. Following completion of the acquisition, growth is expected to accelerate further as Philips leverages Dixtal's contacts with local hospitals and distributors, while Dixtal capitalizes on Philips' global presence for its products.

Philips has an extensive presence in critical care through its leading position in the global patient monitoring market, which in 2007 was estimated at approximately EUR 2 billion.


Related Links:
Dixtal
Philips