Baxter Divests Dialysis Businesses

(Deerfield, IL, USA).

Avitum Austria GmbH, a subsidiary of B. Braun (Melsungen, Germany), will acquire four renal care centers in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Atvium will continue to work with Baxter to provide dialysis services in those countries. DaVita, Inc. (Torrance, CA, USA), will acquire the US-based Lifeline access and disease management businesses. Lifeline manages vascular access centers to meet the needs of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients.

"The sale of these service businesses allows Baxter to concentrate on our core products to improve renal care,” said Al Heller, senior vice president of Baxter. "In addition, these transactions provide us with the opportunity to continue building product sales based on our relationships with the buyers of these businesses.” In April 2003, Baxter completed the sale of its dialysis centers in Italy to a management group that had been operating them under contract. Baxter is currently analyzing offers for the remaining dialysis centers.




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