Kontron finds a buyer

U.K. ultrasound and patient monitoring firm Kontron Instruments found a buyer last month, only weeks after going into receivership. The company was purchased Feb. 5 by Innermail Ltd., a subsidiary of Charterhouse Group International, a private equity company based in New York City.

At the time it went into receivership, Kontron owed roughly $8 million to its creditors. Its assets were intellectual property rights to its monitoring products, an electronic assembly plant, raw materials, and stock, according to Kontron's receiver, KPMG, an international accounting firm also based in the U.K. (SCAN 2/17/99). Ninety Kontron employees lost jobs as a result of the company's failure, although KPMG anticipates that several of these employees will be hired by Innermail. Charterhouse Group was unavailable for comment on the Kontron purchase.