No healthcare sale, stresses Agfa
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
Imaging and IT group Agfa-Gevaert this week quashed speculation that it was selling its healthcare business. The rumours were triggered by an article published on September 5 by Belgian daily newspaper, De Standaard, which claimed Agfa was preparing to sell the healthcare unit by the end of the year. Agfa confirmed to Clinica that the information in De Standaard was "misleading" and that it never launched – or made any preparations to launch – a process to auction the division. A spokesperson said that the firm's management remained committed "to the unity and the strategy of the healthcare division". Sales of Agfa's medical imaging and IT systems, which reached €607m ($844m) in H1 2008, make up around 40% of the group's total sales.