Exhibit 99.1
NEWS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
--------------------------------
Contact: Peter J. Pizzo, III
Chief Financial Officer
(404) 296-5595
SEROLOGICALS COMPLETES DIVESTITURE OF SERAMED, INC. SUBSIDIARY
TO AVENTIS BIO-SERVICES, INC.
ATLANTA (August 21, 2000) - Serologicals Corporation (Nasdaq/NM: SERO)
today announced that it has completed the divestiture of substantially
all of the assets of its Seramed, Inc. subsidiary, which operated 47
non-specialty donor centers, to Aventis Bio-Services, Inc., a wholly-
owned subsidiary of Aventis Behring L.L.C. The purchase price was
approximately $21.4 million cash at closing, which included the
acquisition of certain components of working capital in the amount of
$1.1 million and is subject to adjustment based on actual working
capital, as defined, as of the closing date. Serologicals retained the
remaining working capital of approximately $11.6 million. The Company
intends to use the proceeds from the transaction to reduce indebtedness
and for general corporate purposes.
David A. Dodd, president and chief executive officer of
Serologicals, said, "We are confident that this divestiture will enable
a more successful focus on the growth opportunities of our diagnostic
and specialty therapeutic businesses. The proceeds will provide us
with considerable financial flexibility to fund an expansion of our
current operations and to pursue additional growth strategies."
Serologicals Corporation, headquartered in Atlanta, is a leading
worldwide provider of biological materials and services to major
healthcare companies. The Company provides value-added antibody-based
products that are used as the active ingredients in therapeutic
products for the treatment and management of diseases such as Rh
incompatibility in newborns, rabies and hepatitis and in diagnostic
products such as blood typing reagents and diagnostic test kits.
Additionally, the Company, through its protein fractionation facility,
provides a variety of proteins used in the manufacturing of diagnostic
reagents and tissue culture media components for use as additives in
biotech products.
This release may contain certain forward-looking statements within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
including, without limitation, statements regarding: the use of
transaction proceeds and the growth opportunities of the diagnostic and
specialty therapeutic businesses and other operations. These forward-
looking statements are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and
other factors, including general market conditions. Additional
information on factors that could potentially affect the Company or its
financial results may be found in the Company's filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission.
Serologicals is a registered trademark of Serologicals Royalty Company.
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