CompuGroup ends Agfa courtship

German medical software company CompuGroup Medical has dropped its offer to pick up Belgian graphics group Agfa-Gevaert (EBR:AGFB), the companies said this week.

Neither company offered any reason as to why the negotiations had stopped.

CompuGroup Medical said it was looking to pick up Agfa-Gevaert, which makes medical IT products, in late October. The company said the buy which would bolster its software for doctors’ offices, pharmacies and hospitals; Agfa also has a portfolio of other products including X-ray machines.

The combined company would have annual sales of more than €3 billion ($3.3 billion). CompuGroup said it gave Agfa’s board a non-binding indication of interest but said it was not certain that it would end up making a firm offer.

Agfa, whose market value has shrunk by a third to €616 million this year, said its board would evaluate CompuGroup’s approach carefully.

CompuGroup has grown through a series of bolt-on acquisitions in recent years, most recently buying a majority in Vega, an Italian distributor of its software, last month.

Agfa, which in 2004 sold the eponymous camera film business that made it a household name, is active in the printing and medical imaging business. Its healthcare business accounts for about 40% of its €2.6 billion in annual revenue.

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