£20M Acquisition of Elastomedic Pty

Aortech International PLC 14 March 2000 AORTECH INTERNATIONAL plc £20m Acquisition of Elastomedic pty AorTech International plc, ('AorTech') the Scottish-based manufacturer of cardiovascular devices, announces the acquisition of Elastomedic Pty, the Australian polymer technology company, together with the acquisition of the Intellectual Property and Patents relating to the new biomaterial, Elast-Eon by the Aortech Group. AorTech is to acquire the balance of the 67% of equity they do not own for approximately £20 million. This will be funded by the issue of 2,000,000 new Ordinary Shares, with the balance paid in cash. 1,046,393 of these new Ordinary Shares are being vendor placed with Institutional Investors at 830p per share. Eddie McDaid, Managing Director of AorTech commented: 'The acquisition of Elastomedic has been a major strategic objective of AorTech over the last 12 months since evaluations and testing of the Elast-Eon material demonstrated the unique property of this material, not only for our New Synthetic Heart Valve but for a range of other potential implantable devices. With the current concerns expressed by Environmentalists and by the European Parliament and European Commission on the suitability of materials presently used in medical products this can only enhance the potential uses of Elast-Eon'. Mike Skalsky, Managing Director of Elastomedic said: 'We are delighted at the completion of this transaction whereby Elastomedic secures a sound financial base to grow its business. Becoming part of the Aortech group further cements the close working relationships built during the development work which we have carried out with AorTech in the New Tri-Leaflet Heart Valve project. It has confirmed to us that AorTech has a commitment to innovation and to ensuring the commercialisation of Elast- Eon in a broad range of medical device applications. We recognise the outstanding growth of AorTech over the last 12 months, and are convinced that with the outstanding prospects for our Elast-Eon material, Elastomedic will contribute to further significant growth in the AorTech group in future years'. Dr Simon Carroll, speaking on behalf of CSIRO and the CRC for Cardiac Technology, who played a major part in developing the new Elast-Eon materials over a 12 year period said: 'Our organisations have made a major commitment in the research and development of these new materials since 1987 and we are delighted that our Research Centres have succeeded in developing biomaterials with these outstanding properties, in particular their biostability. During the last 2 1/2 years AorTech has played a significant role, through its investment in Elastomedic, in evaluating and assessing the materials for its New Tri- Leaflet Heart Valve project. It is terrific to see the technology progressing so well towards clinical trials and commercialisation. During this time Elastomedic and ourselves have enjoyed an excellent working relationship with the AorTech team. The combination of fundamental and applied research with the experience drive and commitment of AorTech in commercialising the new Elast- Eon materials provide an excellent springboard for the internationalisation of the technology. We are delighted that this transaction has been concluded and look forward to the continued growth of Elastomedic in Australia and AorTech worldwide'. The 2,000,000 new ordinary shares being issued rank pari passu in all respects with the existing issued ordinary shares in AorTech. Application will be made for the shares to be admitted to trading on AIM and it is expected that dealings will commence on 22 March, 2000. 14 March 2000 Enquiries: AorTech International plc 01698 746699 Gordon Wright, Chairman Eddie McDaid, Managing Director College Hill 0171 457 2020 Michael Padley For further information, visit AorTech's website at www.aortech.com Copies of this statement will be available for a period of 14 days from the Company's registered office: Phoenix Crescent, Strathclyde Business Park, Bellshill, Scotland ML4 3NU.