Intuitive Surgical (NSDQ:ISRG) said yesterday that it paid an unspecified amount to buy Schölly Fiberoptic‘s robotic endoscope business.
Denzlingen, Germany-based Schölly, a 20-year supplier for Intuitive, designed and manufactured several imaging systems for Intuitive’s flagship da Vinci surgical systems. The vendor relationship is slated to continue with Schölly’s fiberoptic business, Intuitive said.
The deal includes Schölly’s robotic endoscope manufacturing line, a robotics line in Denzlingen, a manufacturing site in Biebertal, Germany, and a repair site in Worcester, Mass., Intuitive said. Some 200 Schölly employees from these sites are slated to join the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based robot-assisted surgery pioneer over the next 18 months.
“Schölly has been an important and valued vendor for Intuitive since the very early days of the company,” systems & vision SVP Brian Miller said in prepared remarks. “Leading visualization has been a core pillar of our company and we expect it to continue to be important going forward. It makes sense to bring the teams together for both organizations.”
“Application-specific and advanced image quality is our passion and the key for successful and safe minimally invasive surgery,” added Schölly CEO Holger Reinecke. “We have a long, successful relationship with Intuitive, and we share the common mission to advance health care by providing state-of-the-art technologies and innovative product features. This transaction will allow Schölly to focus more strategically on our global visualization business and ensure sustainable growth.”