OREANDA-NEWS. August 07, 2014. Siemens Healthcare plans to divest its hospital information system business (HS) for USD 1.3 billion (around EUR963 million) in cash to the US-based company Cerner Corp.

The HS business is focused on administrative hospital IT and electronic patient records, thus different from information technology that enhances the capabilities of imaging modalities and laboratory equipment. It is headquartered in Malvern, Pennsylvania, United States and employs some 6,000 employees worldwide with operations in the US, in Europe (particularly Germany), and in Asia.

The transaction is subject to applicable regulatory approvals and planned to close during the first quarter of calendar year 2015. The transaction is fully aligned with the overall strategy of Siemens – Vision 2020. "In the recent years, we have continuously invested in our HS-portfolio and achieved significant progress on the technology side. At the same time, we realized that business success of our hospital information systems could not always keep pace with our competition", says Hermann Requardt, CEO Siemens Healthcare.

"Additionally an increasing number of country-specific requirements, such as resulting from US healthcare reform, make it increasingly challenging to achieve sufficient scale effects. Going forward we will focus on the development of information systems that support our businesses in laboratory diagnostics as well as imaging and therapy."

The takeover of the business by Cerner provides a positive perspective for customers and employees, as Cerner has a proven expertise and is one of the leading players in the market. At the same time with the divestment, Siemens Healthcare and Cerner are engaging in a strategic alliance in the field of Next Generation Healthcare IT. Next Generation Healthcare IT is one of the future focus fields of action for Siemens Healthcare.