NEC, GE To Set Up Venture To Market Medical Equipment

Japan's NEC Corp. and General Electric Co. of the United States have agreed to set up a joint venture in Japan in September to sell medical electronic equipment manufactured by their subsidiaries.

The yet-unnamed venture will be 75% owned by GE, with the remainder put up by NEC, according to the joint announcement by NEC and GE Medical Systems, GE's medical equipment division based in Milwaukee, WI.

The venture will market both patient monitors, cardiovascular monitors, and neurology products developed by both NEC Medical Systems Ltd., a Tokyo-based NEC unit, and GE Marquette Medical Systems Ltd., a GE subsidiary.

The new venture will also provide maintenance services for the equipment it will sell to Japanese hospitals and other medical institutions, they said.

GE is the world's largest maker of computed tomography scanners, magnetic resonance imaging systems, and ultrasound imaging systems.

A GE Medical Systems spokesman said the new venture would allow GE Medical to take advantage of NEC Medical Systems' extensive domestic retail network, which boasts 43 retail outlets.