BATESVILLE, Ind., Dec. 2, 2010 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Hill-Rom
(NYSE: HRC) today announced that it has bought out the minority
interest of its Encompass TSS joint venture with Encompass
Group.
Encompass TSS, LLC was formed a little over a year ago to focus
on the sale and distribution of a comprehensive range of surface
replacement systems, combining Hill-Rom's strengths in therapy
surface innovation and Encompass' highly regarded family of
AccuMax® and MaxiFloat® surfaces. Over the past year, Encompass TSS
has made excellent progress in realizing its vision of rapidly
penetrating the growing surface replacement segment. The buy-out
will allow Hill-Rom to better align its sales channels and fully
integrate Encompass TSS products and services, enhancing Hill-Rom's
customer experience.
Hill-Rom does not expect the transaction, in which Hill-Rom
acquired Encompass Group's 40 percent share of Encompass TSS,
giving Hill-Rom 100 percent ownership, to have a material financial
impact on its FY2011 outlook.
ABOUT HILL-ROM
Hill-Rom is a leading worldwide manufacturer and provider of
medical technologies and related services for the health care
industry, including patient support systems, safe mobility and
handling solutions, non-invasive therapeutic products for a variety
of acute and chronic medical conditions, medical equipment rentals,
and information technology solutions. Hill-Rom's
comprehensive product and service offerings are used by health care
providers across the health care continuum in hospitals, extended
care facilities and home care settings to enhance the safety and
quality of patient care.
Hill-Rom...enhancing outcomes for patients and their
caregivers.
www.hill-rom.com
Disclosure Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release contain forward-looking
statements, within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995, regarding the Company's future plans,
objectives, beliefs, expectations, representations and projections.
The Company has tried, wherever possible, to identify these
forward-looking statements using words such as "intend,"
"anticipate," "believe," "plan," "encourage," "expect," "may,"
"goal," "become," "pursue," "estimate," "strategy," "will,"
"projection," "forecast," "continue," "accelerate," "promise,"
"increase," "higher," "lower," "reduce," "improve," "expand,"
"progress," "potential" or the negative of those terms or other
variations of them or by comparable terminology. The absence
of such terms, however, does not mean that the statement is not
forward-looking. It is important to note that forward-looking
statements are not guarantees of future performance, and the
Company's actual results could differ materially from those set
forth in any forward-looking statements. Factors that could
cause actual results to differ from forward-looking statements
include but are not limited to: the Company's dependence on its
relationships with several large group purchasing organizations,
whether the Company's new products are successful in the
marketplace, impacts of healthcare reform, compliance with federal
healthcare programs, collections of accounts receivable, compliance
with FDA regulations, antitrust and other litigation, potential
exposure to product liability or other claims, failure of the
Company's announced or future strategic initiatives and
restructuring and realignment activities to achieve expected
growth, efficiencies or cost reductions, adverse consequences
resulting from the spin-off of the funeral services business,
failure of the Company to execute its acquisition and business
alliance strategy through the consummation and successful
integration of acquisitions or entry into joint ventures or other
business alliances, increased costs or unavailability of raw
materials, adverse changes in global economic conditions or
disruptions of credit markets, labor disruptions, the ability to
retain executive officers and other key personnel, and certain
tax-related matters. For a more in depth discussion of these
and other factors that could cause actual results to differ from
those contained in forward-looking statements, see the discussions
under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's previously filed
most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent Quarterly
Reports on Form 10-Q. The Company assumes no obligation to
update or revise any forward-looking statements.
SOURCE Hill-Rom