Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

TECHNOLOGY

Sweden’s Getinge to purchase Datascope

Swedish medical technology group Getinge announced plans on Tuesday to purchase cardiovascular device maker Datascope Corp for $865 million in cash.

Published: 16 September 2008 12:18 CEST

Getinge said it would pay $53 per share, a premium of 34 percent compared to Datascope’s volume weighted trading price prior to the June 4 announcement it was seeking strategic alternatives for the company.

Adjusted for Datascope’s net cash position, the enterprise value of the deal was $618 million, it added.

“Datascope’s businesses meaningfully expand Getinge’s cardiovascular business worldwide, reinforcing the company’s focus on both cardiac surgery and vascular interventions,” Getinge said in a statement.

The Datascope board unanimously recommended the offer, it added.

Datascope said in June it would explore strategic options, including a possible sale, and authorized Lehman Brothers to contact possible suitors.

The company said at the time it had received several buyout offers since the sale of its Patient Monitoring business to China’s Mindray Medical for about $240 million in May.

The Swedish company said it saw “significant synergies” from the acquisition which it expected to contribute to group earnings per share, after amortization and financing costs related to the deal, starting in 2010.

Getinge would finance the transaction using a fully underwritten credit facility from Swedish bank SEB and would also carry out a new share issue of about 1 billion kronor ($147 million). The issue was guaranteed by Getinge’s main shareholder, it added.

LIVING IN FRANCE

France to roll out ID cards app

Technology is being rolled out to allow people to carry their French ID cards in an app form - and could be rolled out to other cards, including driving licences and cartes de séjour residency cards.

Published: 4 May 2022 11:24 CEST
France to roll out ID cards app

Holders of French carte d’identité (ID cards) will soon be able to carry certified digital versions of them on their smartphone or other electronic devices, a decree published in the Journal Officiel has confirmed.

An official app is being developed for holders of the newer credit card-format ID cards that have information stored on a chip. A provisional test version of the app is expected at the end of May.

Users will be able to use the ID card app, when it becomes available, for a range of services “from checking in at the airport to renting a car”, according to Thierry Breton, EU Commissioner for the Internal Market.

All French citizens have an ID card, which can be used for proving identity in a range of circumstances and for travel within the EU and Schengen zone – the new app will be in addition to the plastic card that holders already have.

Under the plans, after downloading the app, card holders will need merely to hold the card close to their phone to transfer the required information. According to officials, the holder then can decide what information is passed on – such as proof of age, or home address – according to the situation.

The government has not given any examples of situations in which the app would need to be used, but has set out the main principles and the ambition of the plan: to allow everyone to identify themselves and connect to certain public and private organisations, in particular those linked to the France Connect portal.

READ ALSO What is France Connect and how could it make your life simpler?

Cards will continue to be issued for the foreseeable future – this is merely an extension of the existing system.

Only French citizens have ID cards, but if successful the app is expected to be rolled out to include other cards, such as driving licences, cartes de séjour residency cards or even visas. A digital wallet is being developed at the European level – Member States have until September to agree what it could contain.

READ ALSO Eight smartphone apps that make life in France a bit easier

SHOW COMMENTS