Management Report Operations and Business Environment Group Structure and Business 
For the Fresenius Group, 2008 was an outstanding year. We again achieved record levels in sales and earnings in every business segment. The acquisition of APP Pharmaceuticals, a leading US manufacturer, enabled Fresenius Kabi to enter the North American market for intravenously administered generic drugs.
OPERATIONS AND BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
GROUP STRUCTURE AND BUSINESS
Fresenius is an international health care group providing products and services for dialysis, hospitals, and outpatient medical care. In addition, Fresenius specializes in hospital operations and offers hospital engineering and services for hospitals and other health care facilities. Our legal form is that of a European Company (Societas Europaea or SE), having converted from a German stock corporation, or AG, when our entry in the Commercial Register became effective on July 13, 2007. The operational business comprises the business segments Fresenius Medical Care, Fresenius Kabi, Fresenius Helios, and Fresenius Vamed, all of which are legally independent entities managed by the operating parent company Fresenius SE. This group structure has been in place since January 1, 2008 and has not changed in the reporting period.
- Fresenius Medical Care concentrates on dialysis care, manufacturing and marketing products for the treatment of patients with end stage renal disease (ESRD).
- Fresenius Kabi specializes in the production and sale of products for infusion therapy and clinical nutrition as well as intravenously administered generic drugs (IV drugs) and transfusion technology.
- Fresenius Helios operates hospitals and had a network of 57 clinics, 56 in Germany and one in Switzerland, as of December 31, 2008.
- Fresenius Vamed provides engineering and services for hospitals and other health care facilities internationally.
- The segment Corporate/Other comprises the holding activities of Fresenius SE, the IT service provider Fresenius Netcare, and Fresenius Biotech. Fresenius Biotech is active in research and development in the field of antibody therapies. Corporate/Other also includes the consolidation measures conducted between the business segments.
The Fresenius Group operates internationally and all the business segments have a regional and decentralized structure. Responsibilities are clearly defined in line with the company’s “entrepreneurship within the enterprise” management principle. Additionally, management responsibility is reinforced by an earnings orientated and target-linked compensation system. Fresenius has an international marketing and production network consisting of about 70 production sites worldwide. Key production sites are located in the United States, China, Japan, Germany, and Sweden. Production plants are also located in other European countries, Latin America, Asia-Pacific, and South Africa. This international production network allows us to implement our business model while meeting the most exacting logistics and regulatory requirements. The decentralized structure of the production sites also substantially reduces transportation costs and currency exposure.
Management and control
The corporate bodies of the group are the Management Board, the Supervisory Board, and the General Meeting. In accordance with Regulation No. 2157/2001 on the Statute for a European Company (SE), Fresenius SE has a two-tier management and control system consisting of the Management Board and the Supervisory Board. The two boards work independently of each other and no one is allowed to be a member of both simultaneously.
