UNION CITY, Calif.,
Nov. 21, 2014 /PRNewswire/
-- Abaxis, Inc. (NasdaqGS: ABAX), a medical products company
manufacturing point-of-care instruments and consumables for the
medical, research, and veterinary markets worldwide and providing
reference lab services to the veterinary and research markets in
the United States, announced today
the completion of a stock purchase agreement to acquire 100% of QCR
& Trio Diagnostics Limited, a United
Kingdom based distribution organization. The transaction
closed on November 17, 2014.
Achim Henkel, Managing Director
of Abaxis Europe GmbH, commented, "After a long and successful
cooperation with QCR & Trio Diagnostics as our distribution
partner in the United Kingdom and
Ireland, we now take direct market
responsibility by closing on this acquisition. We welcome the
highly motivated and experienced QCR & Trio employees as new
members of the Abaxis team and we look forward to a strengthened
operational structure. We believe that in a complex market
environment, this acquisition allows us to communicate the superior
quality and performance of Abaxis' vet products to the full benefit
of our existing and future customers."
Clint Severson, president and
chief executive officer of Abaxis, Inc., commented, "We are pleased
to have completed this acquisition. Over the years QCR & Trio
Diagnostics has been a trusted partner and it made strategic sense
to integrate them directly into the Abaxis team to drive even
greater efficiencies in extending our brand into the veterinary
market in Europe. Our goal is to build and strengthen our
presence in additional geographic markets to expand the growth
potential of Abaxis into the future. Investing more in Europe, and other international markets, will
be a focus going forward."
About Abaxis
Abaxis develops, manufactures, markets and sells portable blood
analysis systems for use in any veterinary or human patient-care
setting to provide clinicians with rapid blood constituent
measurements. The system consists of a compact, 5.1 kilogram
(11.2 pounds), portable analyzer and a series of single-use plastic
discs, called reagent discs that contain all the chemicals required
to perform a panel of up to 13 tests on veterinary patients and 14
tests on human patients. The system can be operated with
minimal training and performs multiple routine tests on whole
blood, serum or plasma samples. The system provides test
results in less than 12 minutes with the precision and accuracy
equivalent to a clinical laboratory analyzer. The veterinary
business also provides to the animal health and research market a
line of hematology instruments for point-of-care complete blood
counts (CBC), a specialty instrument to screen for and detect
clotting disorders and to measure equine fibrinogen levels, a
handheld instrument for the rapid assessment of certain critical
care tests and rapid point-of-care tests for Heartworm infections,
Parvovirus, Giardia, Ehrlichia and Lyme disease. Abaxis,
through its AVRL division, provides routine laboratory testing as
well as specialty testing for veterinarians nationwide.
This press release includes statements that constitute
"forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the "Reform Act"),
including but not limited to statements related to Abaxis' cash
position, financial resources and potential for future growth,
market acceptance and penetration of new or planned product
offerings, and future recurring revenues and results of
operations. Abaxis claims the protection of the safe-harbor
for forward-looking statements contained in the Reform Act.
These forward-looking statements are often characterized by the
terms "may," "believes," "projects," "expects," "anticipates," or
words of similar import, and do not reflect historical facts.
Specific forward-looking statements contained in this press release
may be affected by risks and uncertainties, including, but not
limited to, those related to risks related to the transition of its
U.S. medical sales to Abbott, potential excess inventory levels and
inventory imbalances at the company's distributors, losses or
system failures with respect to Abaxis' facilities or manufacturing
operations, fluctuations in quarterly operating results, dependence
on sole suppliers, the market acceptance of Abaxis' products and
services, the continuing development of its products, required
United States Food and Drug Administration clearance and other
government approvals, risks associated with manufacturing and
distributing its products on a commercial scale free of defects,
risks related to the introduction of new instruments manufactured
by third parties, risks associated with competing in the human
diagnostic market, risks related to the protection of Abaxis'
intellectual property or claims of infringement of intellectual
property asserted by third parties and risks related to condition
of the United States
economy. Readers should also refer to the section entitled
"Risk Factors" in Abaxis' annual report on Form 10-K, recent
quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and Abaxis' other periodic reports
filed with the United States Securities and Exchange
Commission. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the
date the statements were made. Abaxis does not undertake and
specifically disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking
statements.
Contact:
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Abaxis,
Inc.
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Lytham Partners,
LLC
|
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Clint
Severson
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Joe Dorame, Robert
Blum and Joe Diaz
|
|
Chief Executive
Officer
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602-889-9700
|
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510-675-6500
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SOURCE Abaxis, Inc.