The CEO of Siemens AG last week denied rumors that the company would spin off its Siemens Healthcare division, according to a November 15 article from Reuters.
Speaking to a daily newspaper in Germany, Joe Kaeser said Siemens Healthcare would remain with Siemens for the foreseeable future, and be operated as an independent company within Siemens.
"The healthcare unit will be operated as an independent company within the company as we aim to strengthen the health business at Siemens and to prepare it for the future," Kaeser told the newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung, according to the Reuters story.
Speculation about the future of the healthcare business was sparked by the company's announcement in May 2014 of its Vision 2020 plan, which called for the divestiture of some business units and the restructuring of others. As part of the plan, Siemens said the healthcare group would be "separately managed" -- a move that some analysts speculated could make it easier to sell or spin off the company.
Since then, Siemens has agreed to sell its Health Services healthcare information systems business to Cerner and its hearing aid business to a group of investors.
