benefits. Operating income in 2006 included $15 million in restructuring expenses, primarily comprised of asset impairments and severance and related benefits.

 

In March 2005, 3M’s automotive business completed the purchase of 19 percent of TI&M Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH (TI&M) for approximately $55 million. TI&M is the parent company of I&T Innovation Technology Entwicklungsund Holding Aktiengesellschaft (I&T), an Austrian maker of flat flexible cable and circuitry. Pursuant to a Shareholders Agreement, 3M marketed the firm’s flat flexible wiring systems for automotive interior applications to the global automotive market. I&T filed a petition for bankruptcy protection in August 2006. As part of its agreement to purchase the shares of TI&M, the Company was granted a put option, which gave the Company the right to sell back its entire ownership interest in TI&M to the other investors from whom 3M acquired its 19 percent interest. The put option became exercisable January 1, 2007. The Company exercised the put option and recovered approximately $25 million of its investment from one of the investors based in Belgium in February 2007. The other two TI&M investors have filed a bankruptcy petition in Austria. The Company is pursuing recovery of the balance of its investment both through the Austrian bankruptcy proceedings and pursuant to the terms of the Share Purchase Agreement. The Company received approximately $6 million of its investment back in the fourth quarter of 2008. The Company believes collection of its remaining investment is probable and, as a result, no impairment reserve has been recorded.

 

Health Care Business (17.0% of consolidated sales):

 

The Health Care segment serves markets that include medical clinics and hospitals, pharmaceuticals, dental and orthodontic practitioners, and health information systems. Products and services provided to these and other markets include medical and surgical supplies, skin health and infection prevention products, drug delivery systems, dental and orthodontic products, health information systems and anti-microbial solutions. As discussed in Note 2, the global branded pharmaceuticals business was sold in December 2006 and January 2007.

 

In the fourth quarter of 2008, Health Care sales topped $1 billion, despite a nearly 7 percentage point penalty from currency translation. In local-currency terms, sales rose 4.5 percent, including 2.2 percent from acquisitions. 3M saw solid local-currency growth in the medical products area, specifically in core infection prevention and skin and wound care products. Geographically, the U.S. and Asia Pacific led sales growth. Operating income margins of 24.0 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008 were the highest in the Company, which includes the impact of $50 million in restructuring and exit activity charges that reduced operating income margins by 4.9 percentage points. This is a highly competitive environment where 3M’s brand presence and high quality are clearly making a difference. Doctors, hospitals and other medical service providers continue to show a strong preference for 3M products.

 

For full-year 2008, Health Care’s results were