LANARKSHIRE, Scotland, May 24, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- AorTech International plc ("AorTech") (LSE:AOR), the Scottish-based developer and manufacturer of cardiovascular devices, announces a restructuring and rationalization program, which will result in a number of redundancies within the organization.The Company has signed a Sub-Contract Manufacturing Agreement with Becton Dickinson (BD) for the manufacture of its TruCCOMS System in Singapore and, as a result, there will be approximately 50 employees made redundant from the AorTech site in Scotland.
Eddie McDaid, Chairman and Chief Executive said: "We are reviewing the global operations of the Company in order to improve performance and efficiency and today's announcement reflects the first stage of that process and reflects, in the main, the rationalization of our TruCCOMS manufacturing which will now be produced under a Sub-Contract Arrangement with Becton Dickinson, in Singapore. As a result we expect that there will be a significant improvement in the performance of our Critical Care business. However, it is regrettable that following the rationalization a number of our employees will be made redundant.
"We continually look at ways to improve the performance of the Group and these steps were deemed necessary in order to increase our competitiveness. The proposed acquisition of BD's Critical Care Division is continuing to progress and further announcements regarding this matter will be made in due course."