|
The road to Flaga Group began under the name Flaga
hf., a sleep diagnostic equipment company, founded by psychiatrist
Helgi Kristbjarnarson on October 18th, 1988. Dr. Kristbjarnarson
had then been employed for some time at the Iceland National
Hospital's Research Institute in the Psychiatric Division
for Sleep Diagnostics. The company then commenced formal
operations in 1993. In 1994, the first employees were hired
and in the following year, the first equipment was sold.
Flaga's first sleep diagnostic device was the Embla A10.
It was initially sold only to the Nordic countries but in
1997, Flaga obtained FDA approval to sell its equipment
in the United States.
In 1999, Flaga and the US company ResMed Inc., a leading
company in the development, manufacturing and distribution
of therapy devices for sleep disordered breathing, formed
a strategic alliance. ResMed bought a 10% share in Flaga
and decided to terminate their development of diagnostic
equipment for sleep disorders and leave that area to Flaga.
ResMed took over of the distribution of Flaga's diagnostic
equipment in the United States and in a few countries in
Europe and Asia. This cooperation made it possible to connect
the diagnostics of sleep problems and their treatment using
products from both companies.
Medcare Flaga hf.
In September 2002, Flaga acquired a competitor Medcare Diagnostics,
most known for its Rembrandt diagnostic software, which
was a division of the US company AirSep Corporation. Flaga
bought all resources and rights from AirSep Corp., including
shares in Medcare Automation BV. This deal created the largest
single company in the world in the field of sleep diagnostics.
The name of the company was then changed to Medcare Flaga
hf. A very important factor in the acquisition was that
Medcare Diagnostics sold its equipment directly to end-users
in the United States market. Concurrent with the purchase,
Medcare Flaga took over the sale and distribution of the
company's products while agreeing to continue their strategic
alliance with ResMed for international distribution.
Medcare Flaga then continued to expand, creating its own
international direct sales organizations and strengthening
its relationship with ResMed in international markets. In
November 2003, Medcare Flaga shares were listed on the Main
List of the Iceland Stock Exchange.
In June 2004, Medcare Flaga acquired the company SleepTech
LLC which specializes in operating hospital-owned sleep
centers. The company, headquartered in Kinnelon, New Jersey,
is the single largest such provider in the New York Tri-State
area. This purchase added sleep center operation to Medcare
Flaga's offering, allowing it to achieve a much greater
share of the estimated USD 2 billion US market for providing
sleep diagnostic services.
Flaga Group hf.
In March 2005, Medcare Flaga became a holding company and
changed the name to Flaga Group hf., which owns and oversees
the operation of Medcare and SleepTech as separate business
units and pursues new business opportunities as they arise.
David Baker was hired in April 2005 as President of Medcare to continue to grow the company and take advantage of the growth in the Sleep Diagnostics marketplace. At the end of 2005, the Medcare Board of Directors and senior management initiated a significant reorganization of the company which has been completed and includes the renaming of the sleep diagnostics equipment company from Medcare to “Embla” and the relocation of the corporate headquarters from Iceland to Denver Colorado.
On the 31 May 2006, David Baker was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of the Flaga Group hf. In addition to his responsibilities as the president of Embla Systems. In September 2007, Criss Sakala was appointed the CFO of the Flaga Group hf.
In early 2008, the Flaga Group requested to be de-listed from the OMX and on the June12th 2008, Flaga Group was de-listed.
|
