• Financial management policies and goals
• Financing
• Effect of off-balance-sheet financing instruments on our financial position and assets and liabilities
• Liquidity analysis
• Dividend
• Cash flow analysis
• Investments and acquisitions

Investments and acquisitions

In 2012, the Fresenius Group continued its growth path and invested €4,179 million (2011: €2,395 million). Investments in property, plant and equipment increased to €1,007 million (2011: €783 million). At 5% of sales (2011: 5% of sales), that was in line with the targeted level of approximately 5%. This was well above the depreciation level of €776 million and serves as the basis for enabling expansion and preserving the Company’s value over the long term. €3,172 million was invested in acquisitions (2011: €1,612 million). Of the total capital expenditure in 2012, 24% was invested in property, plant and equipment; 76% was spent on acquisitions.

The table below shows the distribution of investments by business segment. The following chart shows the regional breakdown.

The cash outflows for acquisitions related to all four business segments:

Fresenius Medical Care acquired Liberty Dialysis Holdings, Inc. in the United States.

Fresenius Kabi acquired the U.S. company Fenwal Holdings, Inc., a leading supplier of transfusion technology products.

Net cash used in investing activities at Fresenius Helios mainly relate to the acquisition of the Damp Group.

Fresenius Vamed acquired the Italian company H.C. Hospital Consulting in 2012. Fresenius Vamed also took over the Zihlschlacht rehabilitation clinic in Switzerland from Fresenius Helios.

In February 2012, Fresenius successfully completed the purchase of a total of 3.5 million Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA ordinary shares. As of December 31, 2012, Fresenius SE & Co. KGaA owned 94,380,382 shares, representing a voting interest of 31.2%.

After maturity of the Mandatory Exchangeable Bonds in August 2011, Fresenius’ voting interest in Fresenius Medical Care sank to 30.3% as per September 30, 2011. By exercising options of Fresenius Medical Care’s stock option program, this percentage could have been diluted in the mid-term to up to 29.3%. The share purchase is meant to preserve a long-term voting interest of over 30% in Fresenius Medical Care.

The main investments in property, plant and equipment were as follows:

• start-up of 65 de novo dialysis clinics, of which 43 were in the United States, and expansion and modernization of existing clinics at Fresenius Medical Care.
• expansion and optimization of production facilities for Fresenius Medical Care, especially for dialysis products in Germany and France, and for Fresenius Kabi, primarily in Europe and the United States.
• hospital modernization at Fresenius Helios. The most significant individual projects were the Helios hospitals in Hamburg, Siegburg, and Krefeld.

Investments in property, plant and equipment of €266 million will be made in 2013 to continue with major ongoing investment projects on the reporting date. These are investment obligations mainly for hospitals at Fresenius Helios as well as investments to expand and optimize production facilities for Fresenius Medical Care and Fresenius Kabi. These projects will be financed from operating cash flow.