Kodak to expand CR line with Orex acquisition
Eastman Kodak Co. this week revealed plans to broaden its computed radiography (CR) portfolio with the proposed $50.5 million acquisition of Orex Computed Radiography Ltd.
   
Founded in 1995 and headquartered in Yokneam, Israel, Orex provides small format computed radiography systems for specialty markets, including orthopedics, diagnostic imaging centers and dentistry. In 2004, Orex's revenue totaled approximately $28 million.
   
Kodak anticipates that Orex will add approximately $32 million to Kodak's revenue in 2005, reflecting approximately 10 months of Kodak ownership. The company also anticipates the acquisition will be earnings neutral in 2005 and accretive thereafter.
   
The agreement is subject to regulatory and other approvals, and will likely close by the end of the first quarter, Kodak said.
   
According to Dan Kerpelman, president of Kodak's Health Imaging Group, the acquisition of Orex will help Kodak to penetrate specialty medical markets worldwide. "Acquiring Orex, whose compact CR products are leading in their market segments, is in strategic alignment with plans to market our digital medical imaging and information products to customers in specialty medical markets worldwide," he said.
   
To date, almost 4,000 Orex systems have been installed in the United States, Europe, Japan, China and other parts of the world. In addition, Orex has sold some 250 of these CR units to branches of the U.S. military, Kodak said. The company also is moving through the U.S. regulatory process for a CR mammography system.
   
Orex's CR systems are also used by customers in another market Kodak serves, industrial non-destructive testing (NDT) organizations such as pipeline companies, foundries and aerospace manufacturers, offering industrial radiographers a digital system to make image viewing and analysis more efficient. Kodak's non-destructive testing unit, which designs and produces digital and film-based NDT solutions, will market Orex CR systems to this niche industry.
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