Varian and Impac Abandon Proposed Merger

Varian Medical Systems (Palo Alto, CA, USA) and Impac Medical Systems (Mountain View, CA, USA) have abandoned their merger plans because the U.S. Department of Justice announced its intention to challenge the proposed merger on antitrust grounds.

In June 2000, Varian announced the agreement to acquire Impac for about US$135 million in stock. Varian is a leading supplier of integrated cancer therapy systems and x-ray tubes and flat-panel digital imaging subsystems. The acquisition would have enabled Varian to offer its customers a software platform for practice management, electronic medical records, and decision support, helping to accelerate its growth in new markets. Impac's software is currently used by cancer centers in 45 countries.

"We entered into this transaction because we believed the combination would benefit cancer patients and providers by accelerating the deployment of leading-edge cancer therapies to hospitals and cancer centers throughout the United States and the world,” stated Joseph K. Jachinowski, president and CEO of Impac. "We respectfully disagree with the narrow view the Department of Justice took with regard to the overlap of our businesses and their perception that the merger would be detrimental to the oncology community.”



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