Intuitive Surgical Acquires Schölly Fiberoptic’s Robotic Endoscope Business

Intuitive, a developer of robotic-assisted, minimally invasive surgery and manufacturer of da Vinci surgical systems, announced the acquisition of Schölly Fiberoptic’s robotic endoscope business.
 
Intuitive is acquiring the robotic endoscope portion of Schölly Fiberoptic’s business. This acquisition will integrate Schölly’s robotic endoscope manufacturing line, and two Schölly sites into Intuitive operations: the robotic-related manufacturing line from Denzlingen, Germany; the manufacturing site in Biebertal, Germany; and the repair site in Worcester, Mass. Intuitive will welcome and integrate into its team approximately 200 staff from these three sites over the next 18 months.
 
“Schölly has been an important and valued vendor for Intuitive since the very early days of the company,” said Brian Miller, Intuitive senior vice president for systems and vision. “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.”
 
Schölly Fiberoptic, a developer of visualization systems for minimally invasive diagnostic and surgical applications, is headquartered in Germany and is one of Intuitive’s strategic suppliers. The companies have worked together for more than 20 years, designing and manufacturing several generations of imaging systems for Intuitive’s da Vinci surgical systems.

Schölly Fiberoptic will continue to be a vendor for Intuitive; other businesses in the region should continue to benefit from Intuitive’s expansion.
 
“Application-specific and advanced image quality is our passion and the key for successful and safe minimally invasive surgery,” said Prof. Dr. Holger Reinecke, CEO of Schölly. “We have a long, successful relationship with Intuitive, and we share the common mission to advance health care by providing technologies and product features. This transaction will allow Schölly to focus more strategically on our global visualization business and ensure sustainable growth.”
 
In addition to bringing important aspects of da Vinci’s visualization system under Intuitive, the acquisition will help strengthen Intuitive’s supply chain, and increase its manufacturing capacity for imaging products.
 
Intuitive, headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif., develops robotic-assisted, minimally invasive surgical technologies. Intuitive brings more than two decades of leadership in robotic-assisted surgical technology and solutions to its offerings, and develops, manufactures, and markets the da Vinci surgical system and the Ion endoluminal system.
 
Schölly Fiberoptic GmbH is a global family enterprise with its headquarters in Denzlingen, in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg owned by Schölly and Aesculap, a subsidiary of B. Braun. The company’s main focus is the engineering and production of customer-specific visualization systems for the business fields of medical endoscopy and visual inspection for more than 40 years. From endoscopes, camera systems, and light modules, all the way to complex visualization systems, the company offers a range of products and services. Schölly was and is the driving force behind the transition from 2D to 3D visualization systems and in the miniaturization of endoscopes. The company was founded in 1973 and has about 900 employees worldwide. Its six sales and service branches are, along with the corporate headquarters, responsible for the support of the globally active customers and the acquisition of new projects. In 2018 Schölly had a turnover of 150 million euros. The cost share of development lies at about 10 percent.