Philips Electronics NV has expanded its health-care products portfolio with the acquisition of U.S. medical equipment manufacturer Respironics Inc., a developer and maker of innovative sleep and respiratory-care devices.
Murrysville, Pa.-based Respironics saw a 14 percent sales jump last year to more than US$1.19 billion. The company employs 5,300 at plants in Pittsburgh; Carlsbad, Calif.; and Kenneshaw, Ga.; and in the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, France and China.
The purchase, for an undisclosed sum, is the latest in a run of acquisitions to boost Philips' health-care products division. It just bought clinical information-technology companies Visicu Inc. of Baltimore and Boca Raton, Fla.-based Emergin Inc.
``The acquisition of Respironics will be a major milestone toward completing our objective to build market leadership positions in high-growth, high-margin markets around our three sectors,'' said Gerard Kleisterlee, president and chief executive officer of Philips Electronics.
Philips is based in Eindhoven.