The Kansas City-based Cerner Corporation has announced a plan to acquire Siemens Health Services for $1.3 billion. The acquisition means Cerner will take over Siemens’s health information technology business unit — a move intended to boost research and development and future innovation.

A release announcing the acquisition noted that the companies currently have complementary client bases. Cerner and Siemens will also form a strategic alliance to create new products combining Cerner’s health IT knowledge with the medical device and imaging expertise at Siemens.

“We believe this is an all-win situation for the clients of both organizations and all of our associates and shareholders,” Neal Patterson, Cerner chairman, CEO, and cofounder, said in a press release. “Through more than $4 billion of cumulative investments in R-and-D, Cerner has established a strong market standing and is positioned for continued growth. Siemensís health care IT assets provide additional scale, R-and-D, an impressive client base, and knowledgeable and experienced associates who will help Cerner achieve our plans for the next decade. In addition, the alliance we’re creating will drive the next generation of innovations that embed information from the EMR inside advanced diagnostic and therapeutic technologies, benefiting our shared clients.”

Combined, Cerner and Siemens Health Services will have 20,000 employees in more than 30 countries with $4.5 billion in annual revenue and $650 million invested annually into research and development.

“We are excited to join with one of the most competitive companies in health IT today and a recognized leader in innovation,” says John Glaser, Ph.D., CEO of the Health Services business unit of Siemens Healthcare. “Siemens cares deeply about its clients and believes Cerner is the best organization to fully support their health IT needs going forward. The knowledge and strength of our combined resources opens up great possibilities for future collaboration and development, which is exciting for all of us. And our clients will benefit from our alignment with a company that has such a strong historical and future commitment to rapid
innovation.”