Varian to acquire German proton therapy system supplier ACCEL
Instruments
11 January 2007 Palo Alto, California, USA. Varian Medical Systems,
Inc., (NYSE:VAR) has signed an agreement to acquire ACCEL Instruments GmbH,
a privately-held supplier of proton therapy systems for cancer treatment and
scientific research instruments.
The acquisition will enable Varian to offer products for delivering
image-guided, intensity modulated proton therapy for selected cancer
patients. Varian will invest approximately $30 million to acquire 100% of
ACCEL, including its debt. In addition to producing particle therapy
products, ACCEL produces specialty linear accelerators and other physics
instruments for research and science applications. ACCEL, which is based in
Bergisch Gladbach near Cologne, Germany, has about 250 employees. “With
this acquisition, we can meet the needs of customers who have begun to ask
us for proton therapy capabilities that supplement their existing
radiotherapy systems,” said Tim Guertin, president and CEO of Varian Medical
Systems. “This leverages our existing technology in treatment planning,
image guidance and cancer informatics and it enables Varian to offer all the
products needed for delivering proton therapy. We expect that we can build a
several hundred million dollar proton therapy business over time.” “We are
excited about the technology and value we see in ACCEL which has a unique
scanning beam technology that is ideal for intensity modulated proton
therapy,” Guertin added. “Also with ACCEL’s superconducting cyclotron
technology, we expect to be able to develop and tailor more affordable
proton therapy systems designed for small, single-room centres as well as
large, multi-room facilities.” ACCEL has commissioned its newly developed
superconducting medical cyclotron for proton therapy at the Paul Scherrer
Institute outside Zurich. Work is nearing completion on another installation
at the Rinecker Proton Therapy Center in Munich and Varian hopes to complete
commissioning that system this year.
Varian anticipates the acquisition will add annualized revenues of
approximately $30 million in fiscal year 2007. Based on guidance given at
the end of fiscal 2006, management expects that the addition of ACCEL’s
operations will reduce earnings per diluted share by about 3 percent in
fiscal year 2007, be about neutral in fiscal year 2008, and be accretive
thereafter. The business will report to Varian Vice President Lester Boeh,
who is responsible for managing Varian’s portfolio of emerging businesses.
The transaction is conditioned upon receipt of certain regulatory approvals,
and is expected to close in late January. To top
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