Vitrolife acquires further shares in A.T.S.

Vitrolife is acquiring a further 10 percent of the shares in A.T.S. Srl, the distributor of Vitrolife’s products in Italy. Vitrolife thereby owns 70 percent of the company. “We are very pleased with how A.T.S has developed over the past year: the development of both sales and earnings has been stronger than planned” says Magnus Nilsson, Vitrolife’s CEO.

In January 2008 Vitrolife acquired 51 percent of the shares in A.T.S. Srl, the distributor of Vitrolife’s products in Italy since 1999. The acquisition is in line with Vitrolife’s strategy to operate under its own management in key markets and increases the opportunities for A.T.S. to be more aggressive and be able to increase its market share in the Italian market.

In the agreement there was an option for Vitrolife to acquire a further 9 percent of the shares within 6 months and subsequently a further 10 percent within 12 months of the original acquisition date, that is a total of 70 percent. The first part of this option was utilized in the beginning of July 2008 and it is the second part of the option that has now been utilized. For the first nine months of 2008, the acquisition positively affected the consolidated sales figure by SEK 5.0 million, with good profitability.

The seller of the shares is Paolo Trabucchi, one of the founders and previously the sole owner of A.T.S.

Approximately 24,000 infertility treatments are performed in Italy per year and the number of fertility centers amounts to approximately 300. The potential market value for instruments and media amounts to SEK 40-50 million.


January 19, 2009
Gothenburg, Sweden

Magnus Nilsson
CEO


Queries should be addressed to:
Magnus Nilsson, CEO, phone +46 31 721 80 61
Anna Ahlberg, CFO, phone +46 31 721 80 13