Vitrolife extends the offer period in the offer for MediCult With reference to the voluntary exchange offer (the "Offer") by Vitrolife AB (publ) (“Vitrolife”) to purchase the shares in MediCult a/s ("MediCult") (OSE: MEC), as set forth in the offer document of 3 February 2009 (the "Offer Document"), Vitrolife hereby announces an extension of the offer period under the Offer. Following such extension, the offer period will last until 27 March 2009 at 17:30 (CET). All other dates referred to in the Offer Document will be extended accordingly. Vitrolife also reserves the right to make further extensions of the offer period, in accordance with the Offer Document section 1.5. Please see the Offer Document for further details. Background On 23 February 2009, Merck KGaA (“Merck”) publicly announced its intention to make a voluntary exchange offer of NOK 13:50 per share in cash for each share in MediCult. Merck's offer was unanimously recommended by the board of directors of MediCult. Existing shareholders representing 16.1 percent of the shares in MediCult have agreed to accept the offer unless a higher offer is presented and Merck elects not to match such competing offer within four trading days. The value of Vitrolife's share offer, with a cash alternative for MediCult shareholders owning 1,000 or fewer MediCult shares, follows changes in the price of the Vitrolife share as well as the NOK/SEK exchange rate. In order to facilitate a comparison between the Vitrolife's share offer and Merck's cash offer, Vitrolife hereby extends the offer period. Contact persons: Contact persons at Vitrolife with respect to the Offer: Patrik Tigerschiöld, Chairman of the Board tel. +46 707 77 71 90 Dr. Magnus Nilsson, CEO tel. +46 31 721 80 61 ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ Vitrolife is a global biotechnology/medical device Group that works with developing, manufacturing and selling advanced products and systems for the preparation, cultivation and storage of human cells, tissue and organs. The company has business activities within three product areas: Fertility, Transplantation and Stem Cell Cultivation. The Fertility product area works with nutrient solutions (media), cryopreservation products and advanced consumable instruments such as needles and pipettes, for the treatment of human infertility. The Transplantation product area works with solutions and systems to evaluate and maintain organs outside the body order to select usable organs and keeping them in optimal condition while waiting for transplantation. The Stem Cell Cultivation product area works with media and instruments to enable the use and handling of stem cells for therapeutic purposes. Vitrolife today has approximately 150 employees and the company's products are sold in more than 80 markets. The company is headquartered in Gothenburg, Sweden, and there are subsidiaries in USA, Australia, France and Italy. Production facilities are located in Sweden and USA. The Vitrolife share is listed on NASDAQ OMX Stockholm, Small Cap. ________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ Vitrolife AB (publ), Box 9080, SE-400 92 Göteborg, Sweden. Corporate identity number 556354-3452. Tel: +46 31 721 80 00. Fax: +46 31 721 80 90. E-mail: info@vitrolife.com. Website: www.vitrolife.com. Vitrolife is required under the Swedish Securities Market Act to publish the information in this press release. The information was submitted for publication on 11 March 2009 at 8:30 am CET. NOT FOR RELEASE, DISTRIBUTION OR PUBLICATION INTO OR IN THE UNITED STATES, AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN OR THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA
Vitrolife extends the offer period in the offer for MediCult
| Source: Vitrolife AB