Private equity group Mid Europa is close to buying FutureLAB, the big central and East European diagnostics laboratory group, according to competing private equity groups, who say that Mid Europa has been granted exclusivity.
FutureLAB claims to be the largest private provider of medical diagnostic laboratory services in Central and Eastern European Countries, with 2,200 employees at 122 company sites in seven countries.
The FutureLAB Holding GmbH was established through the merger of two Austrian laboratory groups (IMCL and Labor Margareten) in 2000. It now has operations in Bavaria, Switzerland, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and the Czech republic.
Mid Europa became the largest player in the Polish occupational healthcare market over the last year, with the acquisitions of Lux-Med, Rodzinnej and LIM, thus creating a network of over 500,000 subscribers. Medicover, a Pan East-European player, which also operates in Romania, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Estonia, has around 300,000 subscribers. These two chains are battling it out in the subscription market with Enel-Med, which also has a national network of 60,000 subscribers.
In 2004, Wiener Städtische Allgemeine Versicherung Aktiengesellschaft became a shareholder of the company, thus facilitating an extensive growth period for FutureLAB.
Our Analysis: Further proof, following Duke Street's acquisition of Biomnis in France, that the lab sector remains on fire, despite the credit crunch. Other private equity players say they remain serious buyers despite the credit crunch, although they expect prices to fall. One highly acquisitive group told HealthcareEuropa: "We will go on buying, but at 4 x EBITA rather than 6x."
