RHÖN-KLINIKUM AG / Legal Matter/MiscellaneousRelease of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a company of EquityStoryAG.The issuer / publisher is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
RHÖN-KLINIKUM AG, Bad Neustadt a.d.SaaleDecision in cartel proceeding 'Rhön-Grabfeld District Hospitals'• Federal High Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof – BGH) dismisses appealby RHÖN-KLINIKUM AG• Group’s expansion strategy remains unchanged• Board of Management chairman Pföhler: 'Time for the German legislator toact.' Bad Neustadt a. d. Saale, 17 January 2008 ----- The Federal High Court ofJustice (BGH) yesterday dismissed the appeal filed by RHÖN-KLINIKUM AG inthe cartel proceeding 'Rhön-Grabfeld district hospitals at Bad Neustadt andMellrichstadt sites'. It has thus been decided with final effect that atakeover of the hospitals owned by the District of Rhön-Grabfeld is notpossible. A written form of the reasons for the judgement is expected toappear in the next two weeks to three months.On 10 March 2005 the Federal Cartel Office prohibited the takeover of thetwo district hospitals by RHÖN-KLINIKUM AG. The Company lodged an appealagainst 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 clarificationof this legal issue.The Group’s growth strategy remains unaffected by today’s decision. Boardof Management chairman Wolfgang Pföhler: 'This decision does not stand inthe way of our growth. Today our Company owns 46 of Germany’s 2,100hospitals – that corresponds to a market share of barely three percent.' Asa result, he added, the growth opportunities are obvious. To quote Pföhleragain: 'We see a lot of white spots on the map for us which are alsoentirely unobjectionable from a cartel-law point of view.'Given the framework conditions for German healthcare policy – shrinking andgreying of the population particularly in rural areas, advances in medicaltechnology, decline in public funding – the Company sees no alternative toexpanding co-operation among facilities across various sites and sectors.Only in this way could comprehensive healthcare delivery meeting highmedical standards be ensured on a sustained basis, also in rural regions.Pföhler clarifies that especially RHÖN-KLINIKUM AG sees competition as animportant key to the further development of the healthcare industry. It isonly thanks to competition that new approaches to healthcare delivery canbe taken to meet the growing demands of an aging society. The cartel-lawapproach taken so far does not appear conducive to this goal.Pföhler therefore repeated his call for a new cartel-law basis for thehospital market: 'It is now the task of the legislator to create the basisfor people in all regions of Germany to be provided with the best-possiblemedical care also in the future. Policymakers will have to clarify to whatextent the goals of high-quality, uniform and efficient healthcare deliveryas provided for by the legislator in the German Social Insurance Code haveto be reflected in cartel-law decisions.Brigitte SallweySallwey & PartnerGrüneburgweg 4160322 FrankfurtTel.: +49(069) 97 203 628Fax: +49 (069) 97 203 627e-mail: sallwey@rhoen-klinikum-ag.com17.01.2008 Financial News transmitted by DGAP
 Language: EnglishIssuer: RHÖN-KLINIKUM AG Schlossplatz 1 97616 Bad Neustadt a.d.Saale DeutschlandPhone: +49 (0)9771 - 65-0Fax: +49 (0)9771 - 97 467E-mail: fire.ir@rhoen-klinikum-ag.comInternet: www.rhoen-klinikum-ag.comISIN: DE0007042301WKN: 704230Indices: MDAXListed: Regulierter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard), München; Freiverkehr in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Stuttgart End of News DGAP News-Service