Dr Evangelous Spanos, founder and owner of Bioiatriki, by far the largest player in the Greek diagnostics market, has denied rumours that his company is for sale. He says he plans to move into Romania and Turkey and to float on the Athens Stockmarket.

Low profile he may be, but Dr Spanos is probably the wealthiest entrepreneur in the Greek healthcare market. He says sales at Bioiatriki should rise 18% to €145m in 2008, with pre-tax profits ahead 20% at a hefty €30m.

That rise reflects the 2007 acquisition of three small hospitals in Athens, totalling 360 beds. But Spanos says he intends to stick to the core lab and imaging business. He claims that the Greek diagnostics market is worth €400m, giving Bioiatriki a 32% market share. The private sector is just over half the total, with Bioiatriki holding well over 60%.

Dr Spanos says the Greek public sector is barely present in the market for more sophisticated tests, and says that the state insurance fund regularly takes 1 to 2 years to pay bills.