Close Brothers advised Ventizz Capital Partners on the sale of innovatis to Roche

Frankfurt/Main, 16 March 2009

Roche Diagnostics and Ventizz Capital Partners today announced that they have signed a definitve agreement under which Roche will acquire 100% of innovatis AG (“innovatis”), a privately held company based in Bielefeld, Germany.

Founded in 1995 by a team of specialists from the scientific and the IT fields in Bielefeld, Germany, innovatis is the leading provider of automated cell analysis solutions, especially focussing on cell counting, viability testing, and cell function analysis in research, as well as bioproduction. Innovatis developed the first fully automated cell counting system, which revolutionised the market as it replaced manual cell counting in many laboratories in the pharmaceutical industry and offers a complete service range from training and workshops, validation, proprietary software development, maintenance to upgrading, customisation and after-sales support.

"This acquisition is a further step in our strategy to strengthen our position as a complete solution provider in the cell analysis research market,” said Dr. Jürgen Schwiezer, CEO Division Roche Diagnostics. “Innovatis’ technology will complement the existing Roche cell analysis portfolio and is synergistic to the xCELLigence technology launched in 2008.” Innovatis will become a fully-integrated part of Roche Applied Science, a global business area of the Diagnostic Division of Roche. The company will continue to develop and market products for cell analysis through Roche Applied Sciences extensive worldwide network.

Reinhard Löchner, Managing Partner of Ventizz explains: “Starting as a spin-off from the University of Bielefeld, we have made a strong contribution to develop innovatis to a market-leading company for cell analysis. Roche is the perfect strategic partner to further accelerate innovatis’ operative development.”

Close Brothers acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Ventizz Capital Partners. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval.

Background information on Ventizz Capital Partners

Ventizz Capital Partners exclusively advises private equity funds that mostly invest in buy-out transactions and high-growth opportunities in small and medium-sized high-tech companies in the German-speaking region. Ventizz initiated or advised four funds with capital totalling € 675 million and has invested in 30 companies focusing on renewable energy, medical technology, information and communication technology.
www.ventizz.de

Background information on Roche

Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is one of the world’s leading research-focused healthcare groups in the fields of pharmaceuticals and diagnostics with total sales of CHF 45.6 billion in 2008. Roche is the world leader in in-vitro diagnostics and drugs for cancer and transplantation, and is a market leader in virology. It is also active in other major therapeutic areas such as autoimmune diseases, inflammatory and metabolic disorders and diseases of the central nervous system. Worldwide, the Group employs about 80,000 people.
www.roche.com

Background information on Close Brothers

Close Brothers is Europe’s largest, independent investment bank focused exclusively on mid-market transactions. Close Brothers GmbH, Germany, and Close Brothers AG, Switzerland, are part of Close Brothers Group plc., the LSE listed UK investment bank with a market capitalisation of about € 1 billion. Close Brothers has 2,500 employees worldwide of which more than 150 are based in Germany and Switzerland. Close Brothers International has a global presence with offices in all important financial centres in Europe, Asia and the USA. Close Brothers offers independent corporate finance advice in four areas: Mergers and Acquisitions, Corporate Restructuring, Debt Advisory and dedicated advice to the Private Equity industry. Furthermore, Close Brothers, along with Close Brothers Seydler Bank AG, Frankfurt, is one of the leading Designated Sponsors at the German stock exchange.
www.closebrothers.de and www.closebrothers.ch