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Exhibit 1
Amsterdam and Marlton NJ, June 29, 2000
Philips closes tender offer for 57% OF MEDQUIST INC
Royal Philips Electronics (AEX: PHI, NYSE: PHG) and MedQuist Inc. (NASDAQ:
MEDQ), today announced the expiration of Philips' $51.00 per share cash tender
offer for 22,250,327 shares of the common stock of MedQuist. The offer expired
at 12:00 midnight, U.S. Eastern Time, on Wednesday, June 28, 2000.
At the expiration of the offer 35,094,319 shares of MedQuist common stock had
been validly tendered and not withdrawn pursuant to the tender offer, including
6,576,148 shares tendered pursuant to notices of guaranteed delivery. This
represents 12,843,992 more shares than were sought by Philips in the tender
offer, and shares will therefore be purchased on a pro rata basis. As stated on
May 22, 2000, Philips will additionally purchase approximately 3% of the
outstanding fully diluted shares of MedQuist, from the holdings of a number of
the MedQuist senior management. MedQuist's shares will continue to trade on
NASDAQ under the symbol "MEDQ".
Commenting on the closing of the tender offer, Mr. Cor Boonstra, President and
CEO of Philips said: "We are extremely pleased to have successfully completed
this transaction on schedule. The MedQuist shareholders have recognized the
value that the combination of Philips Medical Systems and MedQuist, using
Philips' speech technologies, represents. We can now look forward to building on
the strengths of both companies via this partnership."
David A. Cohen, MedQuist Chairman and CEO said: "We are delighted to have
Philips as our partner as the combination of our client base and their world-
class technology is extremely powerful. We look forward to working together to
develop a new digital transcription platform enhanced by automated speech
recognition. With Philips as our technology partner and major shareholder, we
are confident in our ability to undertake this important step in the future of
our company."
For further information:
Ben Geerts, Philips Corporate Communications, tel, +31 20 5977215
[email protected]
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John Emery, MedQuist, Senior Vice President & CFO, tel: +1 800-355-6337, x-4418
jemery @medquist.com
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MedQuist is the leading U.S. provider of electronic medical transcription
services, the process by which dictation is converted into a medical report.
Through the company's nationwide network of more than 8,000 trained
transcriptionists, broadband telecommunication systems and interface with health
care providers' computer systems, MedQuist shortens its customers billing cycles
and reduces overhead and other administrative costs.
Additional information on MedQuist can be obtained by accessing its homepage at
http://www.MedQuist.com
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Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands is one of the world's biggest
electronics companies and Europe's largest, with sales of EUR 31.5 billion in
1999. It is a global leader in color television sets, lighting, electric
shavers, color picture tubes for televisions and
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monitors, and one-chip TV products. Its 226,900 employees in more than 60
countries are active in the areas of lighting, consumer electronics, domestic
appliances, components, semiconductors, medical systems, and IT services
(Origin). Philips is quoted on the NYSE (symbol: PHG), London, Frankfurt,
Amsterdam and other stock exchanges. News from Philips is located at
www.news.philips.com
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This press release contains certain statements by or relating to MedQuist and
the transaction with Philips that are neither reported financial results nor
other historical information. These statements are forward-looking and include
statements of growth and expansion plans and opportunities, potential revenue
and cost synergies, and the benefits of new technologies. These forward-looking
statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual
results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking
statements. Many of these risks and uncertainties relate to factors that are
beyond Philips' or MedQuist's ability to control or estimate precisely,
including, without limitation, future market and economic conditions; the
behavior of other market participants; MedQuist's ability to implement and
achieve market acceptance of new technology platforms, including speech
processing technology; MedQuist's ability to successfully integrate acquired
businesses and achieve anticipated synergies; MedQuist's ability to recruit and
retain qualified transcriptionists and other employees; the impact of new
services or products or the demand for MedQuist's services; and MedQuist's
ability to expand its customer base. These and other risk factors are detailed
in MedQuist's reports, including its Form 10-K for the year ended December 31,
1999 filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on
these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press
release. Neither Philips nor MedQuist undertake any obligation to publicly
release any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or
circumstances after the date of these materials.
