Welch Allyn and ZOLL Medical Corporation announce strategic alliance
October 2008
Welch Allyn Inc. and ZOLL Medical Corporation (NASDAQGS: ZOLL) have
entered into a strategic alliance regarding research and development,
manufacturing, sales, service, and distribution relating to Welch
Allyn’s defibrillation and monitoring products. The two companies have
agreed to work together across multiple areas to capitalize on
complementary strengths in each company’s operations and products.
Welch Allyn will continue to focus on sales of the Welch Allyn AED
10, a simple AED provided to alternate care markets, where the company
is the leader in sales of equipment and products for physician office
practices. It is anticipated that ZOLL will become the manufacturer and
exclusive supplier of these defibrillator products to Welch Allyn. Sales
and manufacturing of the PIC line of manual/conventional Welch Allyn
defibrillators and the Welch Allyn AED 20 will be discontinued in the
near future.
Welch Allyn has named ZOLL an exclusive distributor for the Propaq LT
monitor for EMS in North America. The Propaq LT is a lightweight, highly
portable and flexible monitor that displays multiple lead ECG, SPO2,
non-invasive blood pressure, and respiration parameters. This product
will be offered in conjunction with the ZOLL AED Pro that provides both
semi-automatic and manual defibrillation capabilities, and incorporates
ZOLL's Real CPR Help and See-Thru CPR to provide real-time feedback on
CPR quality.
Welch Allyn and ZOLL will also be jointly pursuing business
opportunities in the military portion of the monitoring and
resuscitation markets, where both companies have leading positions with
their current products, the Propaq monitor and the
ZOLL M Series Critical Care Transport defibrillator. Upon completion
of certain milestones, it is anticipated that ZOLL will acquire Welch
Allyn’s defibrillation research and development operations in Long
Grove, Ill.
In the future, ZOLL will provide customer support and technical
service and supply aftermarket accessories to Welch Allyn defibrillator
customers.
“This partnership combines the strength of Welch Allyn’s leadership
in portable monitoring with ZOLL Medical’s technical leadership in
resuscitation to better serve EMS, military and air medical customers,”
said Julie Shimer, President and CEO of Welch Allyn. “We have invested
substantially in research and new product development in these areas,
and our strategic alliance with ZOLL Medical will allow us to more
effectively focus these efforts to best meet the needs of these markets
while providing our customers with the very best products and service.”
Richard A. Packer, ZOLL Chairman and CEO, added, “While this
strategic agreement with Welch Allyn will not have an immediate
substantial impact on our business, we are excited about its future
potential. We believe it will provide significant leverage to ZOLL's
leadership position in resuscitation and will bring benefits to each
company’s current and future customers. We look forward to talking about
the whole arrangement in more detail on our next earnings call in
November.”
It is expected that the elements of the strategic alliance will be
implemented over the next several months.
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