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[LETTERHEAD OF THE COOPER COMPANIES]
21062 Bake Parkway
Lake Forest, CA 92630
949-597-4700
Fax: 949-597-0662
NEWS RELEASE
CONTACT:
Norris Battin
The Cooper Companies, Inc.
ir@coopercompanies.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COOPER COMPANIES' UNIT COMPLETES
ACQUISITION OF PRISM ENTERPRISES, LP
LAKE FOREST, Calif., May 5, 2003 -- The Cooper Companies, Inc. (NYSE:COO)
announced today that CooperSurgical (CSI), its women's healthcare unit, has
completed the acquisition of Prism Enterprises, LP. Prism develops, manufactures
and sells medical devices and other disposable products for the obstetric,
neonatal and gynecological markets.
Cooper paid about $23 million for Prism, which had revenue of about $8.7 million
in 2002. Cooper expects that the acquisition will be accretive to its
consolidated earnings per share by the end of its first 6 months as a part of
Cooper.
With the Prism acquisition, CSI significantly expands its presence in
obstetrics. Prism products help physicians treat women and infants in labor and
delivery, neonatal and gynecological settings. Its product line includes a
variety of vacuum assisted delivery birthing system pumps and cups, neonatal
heel warmers, exothermic heat packs (the heat is produced when a chemical
reaction is triggered inside the heat pack), gynecological catheters and other
disposable obstetric products.
In 2002, disposable vacuum assisted delivery (VAD) systems, accounted for about
60% of Prism's revenue, and its disposable obstetric, neonatal and gynecological
products made up the remainder.
Prism's VAD systems line includes its market leading Mityvac VAD System
comprised of the Mityvac Obstetrical Vacuum Pump and a disposable cup and the
disposable MitiOne one-piece system. These two systems provide vacuum to aid in
the delivery of the fetus in both vaginal and cesarean births without the use of
electric power. Prism is developing a new VAD system that facilitates vacuum
initiation and control by delivering quick, direct and precise pressure while
minimizing physical demands on the clinician.
Of the 4.1 million births in the United States in 2000, Prism estimates that
about one third required cesarean, forceps or vacuum assistance, with the latter
used in about 6% of total births.
Disposable products accounted for virtually all of Prism's 2002 revenue. These
products support the perinatal period--three months before birth to one month
after birth--and include heating products, uterine infusion catheters, belly
bands and amniotic hooks.
Prism markets a variety of heating products for infants and adults under the
WarmGel and TransWarmer brand names. These gel-based products form to the body
better than competitive products resulting in superior heat dissipation. Prism
markets infant warming mattresses and heat packs and has successfully developed
infant heel warmers that assist in obtaining blood for testing from very young
infants in the hospital.
The WarmGel adult packs are typically used in labor and delivery, post-partum,
rehabilitation, operating room, emergency room and oncology settings for
applications including breast engorgement, warming the IV site, arthritic pain
and sore and aching muscles.
Prism holds a U.S. patent covering the trigger device that causes the chemical
reaction that produces heat in its heat pack products.
Other Prism products include its GyneCath uterine infusion catheter, a minimally
invasive device used to help identify causes of abnormal uterine bleeding or
infertility, disposable fetal monitor bands which allow patient mobility while
assisting in securing fetal monitor placement and the Mityhook, a sterile
instrument used to rupture the amniotic sac during childbirth.
Prism's new product development efforts focus on improved VAD systems, infant
warming and transport devices, disposable inter-uterine test instruments and
gynecological catheters.
Forward Looking Statements
Some of the information included in this news release contains "forward-looking
statements" as defined by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
The forward-looking statements include certain statements pertaining to our
capital resources, performance and results of operations. In addition, all
statements regarding anticipated growth in our revenue, anticipated market
conditions and results of operations are forward-looking statements. To identify
forward-looking statements look for words like "believes," "expects," "may,"
"will," "should," "seeks," "intends," "plans," "estimates" or "anticipates" and
similar words or phrases. Discussions of strategy, plans or intentions often
contain forward-looking statements. These, and all forward-looking statements,
necessarily depend on assumptions, data or methods that may be incorrect or
imprecise.
Events, among others, that could cause actual results and future actions to
differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements include
major changes in business conditions, a major disruption in the operations of
our manufacturing facilities, new competitors or technologies, significant
delays in new product introductions, the impact of an undetected virus on our
computer systems, acquisition integration delays or costs, increases in interest
rates, foreign currency exchange exposure, investments in research and
development and other start-up projects, dilution to earnings per share from
acquisitions or issuing stock, regulatory issues, cost of complying with new
corporate governance regulatory requirements, changes in tax
laws or their interpretation, changes in geographic profit mix effecting tax
rates, significant environmental cleanup costs above those already accrued,
litigation costs including any related settlements or judgments, cost of
business divestitures, the requirement to provide for a significant liability or
to write off a significant asset, changes in accounting principles or estimates,
and other factors described in our Securities and Exchange Commission filings,
including the "Business" section in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year
ended October 31, 2002. We caution investors that forward-looking statements
reflect our analysis only on their stated date. We disclaim any intent to update
them except as required by law.
Corporate Information
The Cooper Companies, Inc. and its subsidiaries develop, manufacture and market
specialty healthcare products. Its corporate offices are in Lake Forest and
Pleasanton, Calif. A toll free interactive telephone system at 1-800-334-1986
provides stock quotes, recent press releases and financial data. The Cooper
Companies' World Wide Web address is www.coopercos.com.
CooperSurgical, Inc., supplies diagnostic products, surgical instruments and
accessories to the gynecology market. With headquarters and manufacturing
facilities in Trumbull, Conn., it also manufactures in Bedminster, N.J.,
Cranford, N.J., Fort Atkinson, Wis., Malmo, Sweden, Montreal and Berlin. Its
World Wide Web address is www.coopersurgical.com.
CooperVision, Inc., markets a broad range of contact lenses. Headquartered in
Lake Forest, Calif., it manufactures in Huntington Beach, Calif., Rochester,
N.Y., Norfolk, Va., Adelaide, Australia, Farnborough and Hamble, England,
Madrid, Spain and Toronto. Its Web address is www.coopervision.com.
Mityvac'r', Mityhook'r', MitiOne'TM', WarmGel'r', TransWarmer'r' and
GyneCath'TM' are trademarks of Prism Enterprises, Inc. and are italicized in
this news release.