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Italy

 

Could Eurofins break the Unilabs impasse?

Bioanalytic testing outfit Eurofins Scientific has just raised €200m through a private placement with La Caisse des Dépôts et placement du Québec (“CDPQ”), one of Canada’s largest institutional fund managers. CDPQ and other institutions have also said they are happy to dip into their pockets to fund more acquisitions. West European lab/imaging group Unilabs could be a target.

Affidea boss denies rumours

Affidea CEO Dimitris Moulavasilis has categorically denied rumours that Waypoint Capital might be willing to sell the Pan East and South European imaging service provider. There was speculation that such a sale would have left the way open for a large private equity house to buy both Affidea and Alliance Medical, where M&G is looking for a sale, and merge them to create a truly Pan-European operator. Instead, Moulavasilis expressed interest in further acquisitions to grow the company.

Who’d buy Alliance Medical?

Alliance Medical, one of Europe’s two big imaging service groups, has appointed Rothschild to consider strategic options, according to Sky News. So who would want to buy it? Big medtech?

CIR buys Kos stake

French private equity house Ardian has agreed to sell its 47% stake in Italian care group Kos for a 12x EBITDA multiple of €292m. Ardian had drag-along rights starting in September 2016 that could have forced majority shareholder CIR to sell to a larger bidder. This explains a higher price than the initial €230-280m prediction.

Trilantic buys into Italian rehab

Private equity house Trilantic Europe is investing €66m for a minority stake in Italian rehabilitation centre Fondazione Salvatore Maugeri. Vittorio Pignatti Morano, chairman of Trilantic Europe, tells Healthcare Europa how the group intends to expand through private sector acquisitions and partnerships with the public sector.

Policlinico di Monza strengthens its presence in Romania

Three years and a half after opening a 140-bed cardiology hospital in Bucharest for €40m, Italian operator Policlinico di Manza wants to expand in other cities in Romania through a network of clinics. It aims to become one of the top three players in the next five years.

Italian dental groups face legislative battle

The Italian dental association is lobbying for a new law that would place two thirds of voting rights in dental chains into the hands of dentists. The senate commission is currently debating a bill that would freeze M&A and stifle the market’s development. President of the Dental Pro group, Michel Cohen, claims it violates anti-trust and EU law and is unlikely to pass.

Scandal engulfs Vitaldent

Vitaldent, the big Spanish and Italian dentistry chain, has been engulfed in a tax scandal. This came a few weeks before an auction was about to start to sell the business, which boasted EBITDA of €35m. In 2015, PAI came close to paying €200m for the group. Observers say the brand has been trashed so badly that the group, which gets over half its sales from franchisees, may not survive.

The demise of not-for-profit providers in Italy

The Italian healthcare system is going under severe budgetary constraints. In light of the cuts, small not-for-profit operators, many of Catholic ownership, struggle to stay afloat and are selling off assets. Large for-profit players, like San Donato, Humanitas and Korian, are jumping on the opportunity.

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