Genolier Swiss Medical Network (GSMN) / Key word(s): Acquisition/Acquisition
15.09.2011 18:00
Release of an ad hoc announcement pursuant to Art. 72 KR
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Ermanno Sarra will become GSMN's second largest shareholder whilst
remaining Managing Director of the Ticino clinics.
Genolier Swiss Medical Network (GSMN) today signed a contract with the
shareholders of Gruppo Ospedaliere Ars Medica (GOAM) to integrate two
Ticino clinics, Ars Medica and Sant'Anna, into the GSMN network. Ermanno
Sarra, who will continue as Managing Director of GOAM, will become the
second largest shareholder of Genolier Swiss Medical Network. With a
turnover of almost CHF 80 million, these two clinics will enable Genolier
Swiss Medical Network to achieve a turnover of more than CHF 300 million in
2012. The merger of the two groups is another step towards GSMN's goal of
creating a national network of private hospitals. Details of the
transaction will appear in GSMN's capital increase prospectus.
GSMN and Ermanno Sarra have signed a contract today for the acquisition by
the former of 100% of the share-capital of GOAM. The positioning and
philosophy of GOAM, based on top quality medical and hospital care,
perfectly match those of GSMN. The group of Ticino clinics comprises two
private hospitals: Ars Medica Clinic, located in Lugano-Gravesano, and
Clinica Sant'Anna, in Lugano-Sorengo. Ermanno Sarra, Managing Director of
GOAM, will retain his position and become GSMN's Ticino representative.
With the integration of these two clinics on 1 January 2012, GSMN is set to
achieve an annual turnover of more than CHF 300 million. Significant
medical and financial synergies are expected from this merger, which will
result in the consolidation of the GSMN clinics' position.
The transaction involves the takeover of the entire share-capital of the
Ars Medica and Sant'Anna clinics' operating companies and provides for the
acquisition by Ermanno Sarra of a significant stake in GSMN, of which he
will become the second largest shareholder. The operation will be partly
financed by a capital increase for GSMN, with details to be published in
the issue prospectus. The strategy developed by Ars Medica in Ticino since
1989 will be continued and no major changes are anticipated in the
activities or structures of the two establishments. The investment
programme currently under way will be strengthened and the development
projects will be supported by GSMN. GSMN intends to continue and intensify
the cooperation of the clinics with admitting physicians, in line with the
initiatives realised by the Group in its other private hospitals: the
development of independent establishments, firmly rooted in the regional
healthcare environment but benefiting from the strength and structures of a
national group.
Founded in 1989 by Ermanno Sarra, Ars Medica Clinic has become the
undisputed leader and cantonal reference centre for orthopaedic surgery and
traumatology of the locomotor system. Perfectly organised around this
discipline, with 12 in-house consulting rooms, 75 beds, a specialist
emergency unit, dedicated radiology department, 4 operating theatres fully
equipped for arthroscopic and prosthetic surgery and a physiotherapy unit
with a pool, Ars Medica carries out more than 3'000 operations every year.
Cooperation between the surgeons is based on a model of individual
hyperspecialisation, which has the benefit of offering patients direct,
immediate access to hand and elbow, shoulder, hip, knee, ankle and foot
specialists. This approach, which enables certain operations to be carried
out by a small number of surgeons, has a significant positive impact on
quality.
Clinica Sant'Anna - the cradle of the Ticino population - was founded in
Lugano by the sisters of the 'Gemeinschaft der St. Anna Schwestern' of
Lucerne in 1922. Located in Sorengo since 1934, it is the largest maternity
hospital in Ticino and one of the largest private maternity clinics in
Switzerland, with approximately 900 births every year and a neonatal unit
for the intensive care of premature babies. With 87 beds, it occupies a
central position in the region's public healthcare, particularly in the
fields of women's health, senology, oncology, internal medicine and, with
its 5 operating theatres, specialist surgery. Since May 2011, Clinica
Sant'Anna also runs the first Centre for Preventive Medicine in Ticino,
serving the general population as well as businesses offering healthcare to
their employees. Expansion and modernisation work is in progress and should
be completed by summer 2012 with the opening of 10 new private rooms, which
will be equipped with very high quality hotel services, and an outpatient
clinic for medical care, oncology and surgery.
Gruppo Ospedaliere Ars Medica, which manages the two Ticino hospitals,
carried out more than 7'000 surgical operations in 2010, with a turnover
exceeding CHF 75 million, as a result of close cooperation with more than
110 practising physicians and 380 full-time employees.
The merger of the two groups of clinics will further consolidate the
position of private hospitals in Switzerland whilst improving the quality
of medical care and hotel services. This acquisition represents an
important step for the GSMN Group, in terms of both quantity and quality,
allowing it to enter a new canton and a new linguistic region. GSMN's aim
is to turn Lugano into an internationally renowned medical centre and to
develop the Italian market. Over the next three years, GSMN is planning to
invest more than CHF 15 million in GOAM infrastructures to further improve
the medical and hotel offering. As with the integration of other clinics
into GSMN, major synergies can be realised with the Ticino hospitals,
particularly with regards to purchasing, marketing, IT and insurer
relations, etc.
Genolier Swiss Medical Network SA (GSMN) is the second largest network of
private clinics in Switzerland. Its growth strategy focuses on the creation
of a national network through the acquisition of clinics and the
restructuring of their operations. GSMN's main aim is to offer first class
hospital care to Swiss and foreign patients. The distinctive features of
GSMN include its high quality services, its brand value, a pleasant working
environment and an experienced management team with an entrepreneurial
approach. GSMN currently operates seven private establishments in
Switzerland (Clinique de Genolier, Clinique de Montchoisi, Clinique
Valmont, Clinique Générale, Centre médico-chirurgical des Eaux-Vives,
Privatklinik Bethanien and Klinik Lindberg), with more than 660 practising
physicians and 1'200 employees. The Group is listed on the Domestic
Standard of the SIX Swiss Exchange (GSMN:SW).
For further information:
Séverine Van der Schueren
GSMN General Secretary
Tel. +41 22 366 99 87
svanderschueren@gsmn.ch
Jérôme Puginier
Ars Medica
Tel. +41 91 985 15 83
jerome.puginier@arsmedica.ch
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