General Atlantic has agreed to sell its majority stake in amedes Holding AG to Antin Infrastructure Partners (Antin IP).
The purchase price was not disclosed and the transaction is subject to approval by the competition authorities.
With 35 laboratories and 27 practices across Germany and Belgium, amedes Group offers interdisciplinary and medical-diagnostic services for patients, medical practitioners, clinics and other institutions. Every day, it evaluates over 150,000 lab samples using state-of-the-art technology. With 3,500 employees - including more than 365 doctors and technical assistants - amedes is one of the leading lab diagnostics companies in Germany.
General Atlantic acquired a majority stake in the wagnerstibbe laboratory chain in December 2007, developing it into the amedes Group together with the original founders. Since then, the company has more than tripled its revenue. In addition to achieving strong organic growth, the company has strengthened its business portfolio through over 30 acquisitions, most recently through the acquisition of MediVision in 2014. Further milestones in recent years include the entry into the Belgian market through the acquisition of Laboratoire Luc Olivier in 2010, as well as the integration or establishment of more than ten labs and healthcare centres (Medizinische Versorgungszentren, MVZ).
Antin IP was advised by DC Advisory, FTI Consulting, Latham & Watkins, KPMG and Abolon. General Atlantic was advised by Goldman Sachs, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, GleissLutz, Boston Consulting Group, PricewaterhouseCoopers and WTS. Financing for the transaction is being arranged by Goldman Sachs, Nomura and Crédit Agricole.
Matthias Störmer, CEO of amedes Group, said
"With its strong track record of investing in businesses and supporting growth objectives, we are pleased to welcome Antin IP as a longterm partner. We look forward to working closely with them as we continue to expand our best-in-class diagnostic and lab services for the patients, doctors, and hospitals that depend on us. We thank General Atlantic, our company founders Helmut Wagner and Werner Stibbe and the other shareholders for supporting our growth course with their capital and know-how for so many years."
Angelika Schöchlin, a partner at Antin IP who led the transaction, commented:
"We are pleased to be partnering with amedes - an industry leader with a commitment to quality and innovation in diagnostic testing. Given the importance of high-quality diagnostic services to the healthcare industry, we believe that amedes is well positioned for continued growth and we look forward to working with the management team to help take the company to the next level. We have long identified the laboratories sector in Germany as a highly attractive and resilient B2B market. The market has good growth prospects due to the growing importance of diagnostics, the increase of chronic diseases and an ageing society. The sector exhibits very robust social infrastructure characteristics. It provides an essential service with laboratory testing in Germany channelling c. 70% of the healthcare spend, with an increasing focus on diagnostics and prevention in medical analyses rather than treatment."
General Atlantic's Germany head Jörn Nikolay added:
"We are proud of our strong partnership with amedes over the past eight years, as it has grown to become a partner of choice to the German healthcare community due to its commitment to breadth of services and commitment to quality. We are pleased that they have found a strong new partner in Antin IP, who will support the company's next phase of growth."