Opto Circuits forays into manufacturing of cardiac stents

Acquires Kolkata - based N.S. Remedies Ltd

Opto Circuits (India) Limited, India’s leading developer and manufacturer of medical equipment and interventional products for world markets, today announced the acquisition of Kolkata (India) based N.S.Remedies Ltd.

N.S.Remedies has an advanced facility for stent manufacturing and Research & Development. The company has the required capabilities to produce stainless steel and cobalt chromium stents. The company also has necessary CE approvals on its stents.

Terms of the Transaction
N.S.Remedies was acquired for about US$ 1.50 Million, through an all cash deal. The entire proceeds were met out of internal accruals.

Management Comments
Commenting on the deal Mr. Vinod Ramnani, Chairman and Managing Director, Opto Circuits India, said, “We are pleased to conclude this acquisition that will extend our capabilities from designing cardiac stents to now manufacturing them, filling in related processes along the value chain. This backward integration was essential to enhance the value of the products offered by us in the interventional cardiac space.”

Mr. Ramnani added, “The acquisition, besides enhancing our manufacturing capacity, will significantly reduce the cost of manufacturing bare metal stents and will also reduce our dependency on external agencies. This will, in turn, help us access additional markets.”

About Opto Circuits (India) Ltd.
Opto Circuits (India) Ltd. (OCI) (BSE Code: 532391; NSE Symbol: OPTOCIRCUI) is a 100 percent EOU and a leading manufacturer of healthcare equipment in India. The Group’s product profile includes digital thermometers, sensors, pulse oximeters, patient monitoring systems, stents, catheters and other innovative products. In 2001, OCI acquired 60 per cent stake in Advanced Micronic Devices (AMDL) to market and distribute its products in India. Mediaid came into existence with the acquisition of the patient monitoring division of Palco Labs, US, in end-2003 and it now directly markets OCI’s products in the US. OCI acquired EuroCor GmbH in 2006. Eurocor manufactures Cardiac Stents of various types, including Drug Eluting Coronary stents and Balloons. In April 2007, OCI ventured into new product segments - Urology, Gastroenterology, Gynecology and Orthopedics after acquiring Devon Innovations Private Limited (Bangalore) and Ormed Medical Technology Limited (Chennai). OCI completed the acquisition of US based Criticare Systems, Inc. in April 2008. Criticare designs, manufactures, and markets leading edge patient monitoring systems, vital signs monitors and gas benches for a wide range of hospitals and alternate health care environments throughout the world.

Visit us at www.optoindia.com.