Berlin, 13 December 2006. Eckert & Ziegler Strahlen- und Medizintechnik AG (ISIN DE0005659700), a specialist for radiopharmaceutical products as well as cancer diagnostic and treatment systems, will sell its business in blood irradiation systems to the Leipzig-based company Gamma Service Recycling GmbH, effective 1 January 2007. The purchasing price consists of the book value of the fixed and current assets plus a percentage of sales over the coming years insured by minimum payments from sales revenues. On account of the performance-based component of this sale, revenue effects for Eckert & Ziegler AG over the coming years will remain roughly at the level they would be if the company had continued to run the business itself.
Products of the BIOBEAM trademark family were added to Eckert & Ziegler AG's portfolio in 2004 as part of the acquisition of the medical systems business of the Lübeck-based company HEK GmbH, and have since accounted for around 2 million EUR of sales per year. In order to streamline processes and to concentrate more strongly on its medical and radiometric core areas, Eckert & Ziegler has been seeking to sell this business for some time.
As Dr. Gunnar Mann, the general manager of the subsidiary responsible for these products, explained, "Business activities with blood irradiation systems are aimed at blood banks and research institutes as opposed to our main customer group of specialists in nuclear medicine and radiation therapy. It has therefore not been cost-effective for us to handle these products appropriately. With Gamma Service, we are pleased to have found a buyer whom we are convinced will further develop this field in a qualified manner. This solution will benefit our customers, as well as both Gamma Service and us."
The Board of Directors