In March 2000, Fresenius has announced the purchase of a newly formed U.S. dialysis company called Franconia Acquisition LLC. Here is the press release from the Fresenius AG web site.

Franconia Acquisition was owned by several investment companies. By acquiring the assets of the company ($350 million cash) in exchange for preferred Fresenius stock, Fresenius raised the money to fund their acquistion plans for the next 18 months.

By "acquiring" this company, Fresenius created a new way of financing dialysis unit acquisitions. With the downward trend of dialysis company stocks in late 1999/early 2000, those individuals and companies that were selling their dialysis facilities preferred cash to stock.

July 28, 2000 - Fresenius Medical Care has raised an additional $30 million (approx) by exercising the greenshoe provision (750,000 shares) of its recent sale of 5 million new preferred shares.

A greenshoe provision in an underwriting agreement calls for the authorization of additional shares in the event of exceptional public demand.

Total amount raised by this stock sale is now approximately $230 million. FMC Chief Executive Ben Lipps told analysts and reporters at a presentation in Frankfurt earlier this month that, "In this issue we want to invest in acquisitions almost 100 percent."

July 21, 2000 - Fresenius Medical Care announced that it has raised over $200 million through the just completed sale of 5 million newly-issued preferred shares.

July 5, 2000 - Fresenius Medical Care is offering a discount for retail investors in its upcoming sale of 5 million preferred, non-voting shares.

Fresenius Medical Care said it would invest nearly all of the $230 million that it expects to raise in purchasing more dialysis centers worldwide.

June 27, 2000 - Fresenius Medical Care announced that it will be issuing up to an additional 5.75 million preferred shares to finance the purchase of more dialysis facilities. This could raise approximately $240 million.

June 26, 2000 - Fresenius Medical Care, which just finalized the acquisition of the non-continental TRC (DaVita) facilities, announced that, "Further acquisitions are about to be concluded."

Fresenius also announced that they expect to see little change in their earnings per share in the second quarter.

June 20, 2000 - Fresenius Medical Care said that it is considering the sale of preferred shares and "various alternatives" to help finance the purchase of more dialysis clinics.

There are now approximately 980,000 people on dialysis worldwide. Current leading dialysis providers are:

Fresenius Medical Care, approximately 1100 clinics and 81,200 patients. Fresenius Medical Care AG web site. FMC North America web site. 4-year stock price chart of NYSE listing.

Gambro, approximately 597 clinics and 44,700 patients. Web site home page. 5-year stock price chart (traded on Stockholm Stock Exchange).

Total Renal Care (soon to be DaVita),
approximately 488 dialysis facilities and 40,000 patients. Web site home page. 5-year stock price chart.

Renal Care Group, approximately 186 dialysis facilities and 15,000 patients. Web site home page. 5-year stock price chart.

Other dialysis providers include:
Everest Dialysis Services - view ad
Dialysis Clinics Inc. (DCI) - a non-profit provider
National Nephrology Associates (Tannenbaum)
Superior Renal Care - web site
American Renal Associates - web site

March 2, 2000 - Fresenius has announced the purchase of a newly formed U.S. dialysis company called Franconia Acquisition LLC. Here is the press release from the Fresenius AG web site.

Franconia Acquisition is owned by several investment companies. By acquiring the assets of the company ($350 million cash) in exchange for preferred Fresenius stock, Fresenius has raised the money to fund their acquistion plans for the next 18 months.

By "acquiring" this company, Fresenius has created a new way of financing dialysis unit acquisitions. With the downward trend of dialysis company stocks, it appears that those individuals and companies that are selling their dialysis facilities prefer cash to stock.

The costs of acquiring the international Total Renal Care facilities, announced by Fresenius AG on January 20th, will be financed through this transaction.