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[COOPER COMPANIES LOGO]
NEWS RELEASE
CONTACT:
NORRIS BATTIN
THE COOPER COMPANIES, INC.
[email protected]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COOPER COMPANIES UNIT ACQUIRES MEDASONICS, INC.
LAKE FOREST, Calif., October 18, 2000 -- The Cooper Companies, Inc (NYSE:COO)
announced today that its CooperSurgical unit had completed the purchase of
MedaSonics, Inc., including its line of handheld and compact Doppler ultrasound
systems used in obstetrics and gynecology, as well as in cardiology and other
medical specialties.
Cooper paid 190,763 shares of its common stock having a market value of $6.6
million on the closing date, and $500,000 in cash for MedaSonics, whose Doppler
line of products had 1999 revenue of about $4 million. The transaction is
expected to be accretive to Cooper's earnings per share in fiscal 2001.
MedaSonics manufacturers and markets fetal and vascular handheld Dopplers
including the state-of-the-art TRIA'TM' Doppler released in October 1999 for
sale to physician offices, clinics and hospital settings. As a leader in its
industry, MedaSonics enjoys a well established following for its products,
accounting for about one-third of the U.S. Medical Doppler market annually, with
an installed base of over 250,000 units.
Fetal Dopplers detect fetal life and viability from as early as nine weeks,
assess the rate and rhythm of the fetal heart and are used to monitor the
progress of the gestation period. Vascular Dopplers are used to locate vessels,
determine venous and arterial patency and measure systolic blood pressure. The
multipurpose perioperative Doppler is used to detect venous air embolism during
surgery, direct vessel and transcutaneous blood flow evaluation and to provide
noninvasive systolic pressure measurement.
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A. Thomas Bender, Cooper's chief executive officer, said, "We are happy to add
this quality line to our portfolio of products that obstetricians and
gynecologists use in their office practices. With this acquisition, we continue
on our path to build a $100 million women's professional healthcare franchise
over the next several years. We believe that additions such as this add to the
quality of our franchise and improve its profitability, as we continue to
leverage our infrastructure."
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" as defined in the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. To identify forward-looking
statements, look for words like "believes," "expects," "may," "will," "should,"
"seeks," "approximately," "intends," "plans," "estimates" or "anticipates" and
similar words or phrases. Discussions of strategy, plans or intentions often
contain forward-looking statements. These, and all forward-looking statements,
necessarily depend on assumptions, data or methods that may be incorrect or
imprecise.
Events, among others, that could cause actual results and future actions to
differ materially from those described by or contemplated in the forward-looking
statements include major changes in business conditions and the economy, loss of
key senior management, major disruptions in the operations of Cooper's
manufacturing facilities, new competitors or technologies, the impact of an
undetected virus on our computer systems, acquisition integration delays or
costs, foreign currency exchange exposure, investments in research and
development and other start-up projects, dilution to earnings per share from
acquisitions or issuing stock, regulatory issues, significant environmental
cleanup costs above those already accrued, litigation costs, costs of business
divestitures, the requirement to provide for a significant liability or to write
off a significant asset, changes in accounting principles or estimates, and
other factors described in Cooper's Securities and Exchange Commission filings,
including the "Business" section in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year
ended October 31, 1999. Cooper cautions readers not to rely on forward-looking
statements. The Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update these
forward-looking statements.
The Cooper Companies, Inc. and its subsidiaries develop, manufacture and market
specialty healthcare products. Corporate offices are located in Lake Forest and
Pleasanton, Calif. A toll free interactive telephone system at 1-800-334-1986
provides stock quotes, recent press releases and financial data. The Cooper
Companies' World Wide Web address is www.coopercos.com.
CooperSurgical, Inc., with operations in Shelton, Conn., Boca Raton, Fla.,
Montreal and Berlin, markets diagnostic products, surgical instruments and
accessories used primarily by gynecologists and obstetricians. Its Web address
is www.coopersurgical.com. CooperVision, Inc., markets a broad range of contact
lenses for the vision care market. Headquartered in Lake Forest, Calif., it
manufactures in Huntington Beach, Calif., Rochester, N.Y., Hamble, England and
Toronto. Its Web address is www.coopervision.com.
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