150 new jobs at Teleflex Inc – new European Headquarters for Athlone

Establishing a European Headquarters based in Ireland enhances our ability to provide superior customer service levels and improved financial efficiencies, as we continue to expand our product offerings, markets and customer base globally.

Teleflex Medical President Ernest Waaser

11/07/2007

Teleflex Medical
150 new jobs to be created in Shared Services Operation

Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Micheál Martin TD today (11 July 2007) announced that Teleflex Medical, a division of Teleflex Incorporated, of Pennsylvania, US, is to establish its European Headquarters at the IDA Business & Technology Park in Athlone, Co. Westmeath. Teleflex Medical is a global medical technology company providing medical devices used in respiratory care, anaesthesia, urology and a range of surgical procedures.

Supported by IDA Ireland, the new investment will create as many as 150 new high quality jobs over five years in areas such as multilingual customer service, finance, HR, IT, planning and administration. This is Teleflex Medical’s second operation in Ireland. It also has a highly successful manufacturing operation in Limerick since 1983.

Teleflex Medical, designs, manufactures and markets products under well known medical device brands, including Rusch, Hudson RCI, Gibeck, Pilling, Weck, KMedic and Deknatel. The business had revenues of $859 million in 2006, has operations in 18 countries and employs over 7,000 people worldwide. The European Headquarters in Ireland will cater for its expansion needs.
Minister Martin, welcoming the investment, said: “We strongly welcome this additional Teleflex investment to Ireland which was won against intense competition from a number of other European locations. We are delighted that the company’s positive experience to date in Ireland and the success of its Limerick operation led them to make another significant investment here. The Midland’s region continues to be a very attractive location to multinational companies of this calibre and scale for reasons such as the availability of highly educated graduates, experienced personnel, a wide choice of property solutions, an international standard infrastructure and a highly desirable quality of living and working environment.”

Teleflex Medical President Ernest Waaser said: “Establishing a European Headquarters based in Ireland enhances our ability to provide superior customer service levels and improved financial efficiencies, as we continue to expand our product offerings, markets and customer base globally. The availability of highly educated graduates with strong language skills, proximity to the Athlone Institute of Technology, Ireland’s existing base of premises were some of the reasons why we chose Athlone. We look forward to doing business here for years to come.”

About Teleflex
Teleflex Incorporated was established in 1943. It employs over 21,000 people worldwide and operates three divisions: Commercial – serving customers in the automotive, marine and industrial sectors; Medical – with products for hospitals, home health and medical devices manufacturers; and Aerospace – involving a range of components and service for aircraft engines and cargo handling systems. The company had revenues of $2.5 billion for 2006.

Teleflex – Limerick
Teleflex Medical Limited was established in Limerick in 1983, with the support of IDA Ireland. It currently employs 135 people and manufactures plastic tubing, braided tubing and medical product components in three Units – medical, surgical and OEM. Key customers include Boston Scientific, Becton Dickinson, B Braun, Baxter and Abbott. In 2002 it established a R&D and Product Development Centre, again with IDA support. The R&D has delivered high value products and enhanced the operations capabilities.

For futher information please contact –
Teleflex Inc – Teleflex Incorporated US Office – Julie McDowell, VP of Corporate Communications, Tel: 001 610 948 2836

IDA Ireland – Ruth Croke, Manager, Press & PR. Tel: 087 4195051

Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment - Press Office, Tel: 01- 6312200

Jerry O’Connor, Press Advisor, Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment,
087 6630338/016312200