Fresenius SE & Co. KGaA is a European multinational health care company based in Bad Homburg vor der Höhe, Germany. It provides products and services for dialysis in hospitals, as well as inpatient and outpatient medical care. The company is involved in hospital management and in engineering and services for medical centers and other health care facilities.

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Fresenius SE & Co. KGaA

Company type	Kommanditgesellschaft auf Aktien with Societas Europaea as partner with unlimited liability
Traded as	FWB: FRE DAX Component
ISIN	DE0005785604
Industry	Health care
Founded	1912; 112 years ago (1912)
Founder	Eduard Fresenius
Headquarters	Bad Homburg vor der Höhe, Germany
Key people	Helen Giza (CEO and chairman of the management board) Wolfgang Kirsch (Chairman of the supervisory board)
Products	infusion pumps, medication, hospitals, medical care
Services	Dialysis
Revenue	€37.250 billion (2021)[1]
Operating income	€4.252 billion (2021)[1]
Net income	€1.867 billion (2021)[1]
Total assets	€71.962 billion (2021)[1]
Total equity	€29.288 billion (2021)[1]
Owner	Else Kröner-Fresenius Foundation (26.6%)
Number of employees	316,078 (2021)[1][dead link]
Website	www.fresenius.com

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The company is ranked 411th in the Forbes Global 2000 list in 2023.^[2]

In March 2022, it announced plans to merge with InterWell Health and Cricket Health to form a new company, which will operate under the InterWell Health brand, focused on services for the earlier stages of kidney disease.^[3]

There are four divisions:

• Fresenius Medical Care, a publicly traded company of which Fresenius owns 30.8%, focuses on patients with chronic kidney failure.^[4] With its North American headquarters in Waltham, Massachusetts, it holds a 38% market share in the dialysis market in the United States.
• Fresenius Helios is the largest hospital operator and provider of inpatient and outpatient in Germany. The Helios Kliniken has more than 110 hospitals and more than 30,000 beds, treating over 4 million patients annually.
• Fresenius Kabi is a supplier of essential drugs, clinical nutrition products, and medical devices. It produces generic versions of intravenous oncology products such as Paclitaxel, Irinotecan, Oxaliplatin, Gemcitabine, Cytarabine, Carboplatin, Topotecan, Docetaxel, and Epirubicin.
• Fresenius Vamed develops and manages health care facilities.

The company was founded by Eduard Fresenius in 1912.^[5]

In 1946, Fresenius died. Else Kröner, his foster-daughter and protégée, who was still in pharmacy school at the time, inherited the company. Else Kröner rescued the company from significant debts by laying off the majority of staff and restructuring the business. Kröner died in 1988. Kröner's will left all of her assets to the Else Kröner-Fresenius-Foundation, which funds medical research.^[6]

In 1966, the company began to sell dialysis machines.^[5]

In 1982, the company converted to a joint stock company.^[5]

In 1983, the company began producing polysulfone fiber membranes.^[5]

In 1986, the company became a public company, listing shares on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.^[5]

In 1996, the company merged its dialysis business into National Medical Care to form Fresenius Medical Care.^[5]

In 1999, the company acquired the international nutrition business of Pharmacia & Upjohn and merged it with Fresenius Pharma to form Fresenius Kabi.^[5]https://www.fresenius.com/1294

In 2001, the company acquired Wittgensteiner Kliniken, a major operator of private hospitals in Germany.^[5]

In 2005, the company acquired Helios.^[5]

In March 2005, Fresenius Kabi AG acquired Labesfal (Laboratório de Especialidades Farmacêuticas Almiro S.A.).^{[7][8][non-primary source needed]}

In September 2006, Helios Kliniken acquired a majority stake in Humaine Kliniken.^{[9][non-primary source needed]} HUMAINE operates six acute and post acute care hospitals in the fields of neurology, oncology and traumatology.

On 16 July 2007 the company completed its conversion from an Aktiengesellschaft (AG - German public limited company) to a Societas Europaea, the European Union-wide equivalent.^{[10][non-primary source needed]} The company changed its legal status once again on 28 January 2011, becoming a Kommanditgesellschaft auf Aktien (KGaA - German partnership limited by shares) with a Societas Europaea as a partner with unlimited liability (SE & Co. KGaA).^{[11][non-primary source needed]}

In August 2008, Fresenius Kabi acquired 73.3% of Dabur Pharma of India.^[12]

In September 2008, Fresenius Kabi acquired APP Pharmaceuticals, Inc.^{[13][non-primary source needed]}

In October 2011, the company agreed to acquire 51% of the share capital in Katholisches Klinikum Duisburg hospital.^{[14][non-primary source needed]}

Also in October 2011, Helios Kliniken acquired 94.7% of the share capital in Damp Group.^[15]

In September 2013, Fresenius acquired 41 hospitals from Rhön-Klinikum for €3.07 billion.^[16][17] In 2014, Fresenius sold its 5% stake in Rhön-Klinikum.^[18]

In November 2014, the company announced that its Russian partners, Sistema and Zenitco Finance Management, agreed to terminate their joint venture agreement that had been established in April 2014. The termination was prompted by changing political and regulatory circumstances in the region.^[19]

In January 2016, Fresenius Kabi announced that it would acquire Becton Dickinson's prescription drug business.^[20]

In February 2016, Fresenius Helios acquired the municipal hospital in Velbert, North Rhine-Westphalia.^{[21][non-primary source needed]}

In January 2017, Fresenius acquired the largest Spanish hospital group, the Grupo Hospitalario Quirónsalud for €5.76 billion and merged it into the Helios Group, establishing the biggest hospital group of Europe.^{[22][non-primary source needed]}

In September 2017, Fresenius Kabi acquired Merck KGaA's biosimilars business.^{[23][non-primary source needed]}

In February 2019, Fresenius Medical Care acquired NxStage, a US-based maker of in-home dialysis devices, for $2 billion.^{[24][non-primary source needed][25]}

Fresenius Kabi is a supplier of 0.9% sodium chloride Injection USP diluent for use with the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.^[26]