Gish, Italian Firm Sign Marketing Pact

Gish Biomedical Inc. signed a five-year, $4-million agreement with Italy-based Sorin Biomedica S.p.A. to sell Gish products under the Sorin label in overseas markets. Gish Chairman Jack Brown said the agreement stipulates that Sorin either will purchase finished Gish products or purchase parts for final assembly in Italy. Brown said Gish would begin production for Sorin, a division of Fiat S.p.A., in late October.

The deal was a coup for the Santa Ana-based medical products maker, Brown said, because Gish replaces the much larger American Bentley as Sorin’s supplier and gives Gish access to international sales that the company has been “financially unable to compete for from a marketing standpoint.”

The agreement also gives Gish a cash injection over the next five years representing two-thirds of its $7-million revenues for its fiscal 1986, ended June 30. The company has not yet reported its 1986 net earnings, but Brown said Gish would be “barely” in the black. With the Sorin contract, however, Brown said he expects the current fiscal year to be profitable all four quarters. “If it isn’t,” he said, “you’re talking to a dead man.”