DGAP-News: RHÖN-KLINIKUM AG (english)

RHÖN-KLINIKUM AG: Decision in cartel proceeding



RHÖN-KLINIKUM AG / Legal Matter/Miscellaneous



17.01.2008



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RHÖN-KLINIKUM AG, Bad Neustadt a.d.Saale



Decision in cartel proceeding 'Rhön-Grabfeld District Hospitals'



Federal High Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof - BGH) dismisses appeal

by RHÖN-KLINIKUM AG

Group's expansion strategy remains unchanged

Board of Management chairman Pföhler: 'Time for the German legislator to

act.'





Bad Neustadt a. d. Saale, 17 January 2008 ----- The Federal High Court of

Justice (BGH) yesterday dismissed the appeal filed by RHÖN-KLINIKUM AG in

the cartel proceeding 'Rhön-Grabfeld district hospitals at Bad Neustadt and

Mellrichstadt sites'. It has thus been decided with final effect that a

takeover of the hospitals owned by the District of Rhön-Grabfeld is not

possible. A written form of the reasons for the judgement is expected to

appear in the next two weeks to three months.



On 10 March 2005 the Federal Cartel Office prohibited the takeover of the

two district hospitals by RHÖN-KLINIKUM AG. The Company lodged an appeal

against this before the Düsseldorf Court of Appeals (Oberlandesgericht -

OLG). On 11 April 2007, the OLG Düsseldorf dismissed the appeal.

RHÖN-KLINIKUM AG then appealed to the BGH for a fundamental clarification

of this legal issue.



The Group's growth strategy remains unaffected by today's decision. Board

of Management chairman Wolfgang Pföhler: 'This decision does not stand in

the way of our growth. Today our Company owns 46 of Germany's 2,100

hospitals - that corresponds to a market share of barely three percent.' As

a result, he added, the growth opportunities are obvious. To quote Pföhler

again: 'We see a lot of white spots on the map for us which are also

entirely unobjectionable from a cartel-law point of view.'



Given the framework conditions for German healthcare policy - shrinking and

greying of the population particularly in rural areas, advances in medical

technology, decline in public funding - the Company sees no alternative to

expanding co-operation among facilities across various sites and sectors.

Only in this way could comprehensive healthcare delivery meeting high

medical standards be ensured on a sustained basis, also in rural regions.



Pföhler clarifies that especially RHÖN-KLINIKUM AG sees competition as an

important key to the further development of the healthcare industry. It is

only thanks to competition that new approaches to healthcare delivery can

be taken to meet the growing demands of an aging society. The cartel-law

approach taken so far does not appear conducive to this goal.



Pföhler therefore repeated his call for a new cartel-law basis for the

hospital market: 'It is now the task of the legislator to create the basis

for people in all regions of Germany to be provided with the best-possible

medical care also in the future. Policymakers will have to clarify to what

extent the goals of high-quality, uniform and efficient healthcare delivery

as provided for by the legislator in the German Social Insurance Code have

to be reflected in cartel-law decisions.







Brigitte Sallwey

Sallwey & Partner

Grüneburgweg 41

60322 Frankfurt

Tel.: +49(069) 97 203 628

Fax: +49 (069) 97 203 627

e-mail: sallwey@rhoen-klinikum-ag.com





17.01.2008 Financial News transmitted by DGAP



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Language: English

Issuer: RHÖN-KLINIKUM AG

Schlossplatz 1

97616 Bad Neustadt a.d.Saale

Deutschland

Phone: +49 (0)9771 - 65-0

Fax: +49 (0)9771 - 97 467

E-mail: fire.ir@rhoen-klinikum-ag.com

Internet: www.rhoen-klinikum-ag.com

ISIN: DE0007042301

WKN: 704230

Indices: MDAX

Listed: Regulierter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard), München;

Freiverkehr in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Stuttgart



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