Two investment funds vie for Centrul Medical Unirea

Talks for the takeover of a stake in Centrul Medical Unirea (CMU) private clinic network are making headway, with two potential buyers left in the race, after the list of interested parties had included more than ten.

"In the past three months, there's been high interest in the company. In the first stage, there were 15 interested parties, then three and now two," said Wargha Enayati, now controlling the majority stake in CMU.

He specified that both strategic investors and investment funds voiced their interest in the company, but he chose not to specify the name of the firms CMU is now in talks with.

According to ZF information, the two contenders left in the race for CMU are Advent International and Mid Europa Partners investment funds.

This would be the first investment Advent and Mid Europa would make in the Romanian field of private medical services, boasting one of the soundest performances in the economy and still registering growth in a period of decline for most industries.

At present, CMU's shareholder structure includes cardiologist Wargha Enayati, holding the majority stake, and 3i investment fund, which took over 49% in 2007.

CMU had budgeted 4.6m-euro EBITDA for last year, so that, according to ZF estimates the company may be valued at 46m euros. Thus, a deal involving almost 50% of stock would top 20m euros.

According to preliminary reported data, CMU last year generated turnover worth 69.5m RON (16.5m euros), up 70% from 2008. For this year, the company's plans include reaching the 20m-euro mark.

The main private clinic networks have budgeted turnover increases of between 20 and 50% for this year, after a year 2009 when growth reached even 80% in some cases.

Clinics' 2009 figures and projections for 2010 are in sharp contrast with what is happening in the rest of the economy. The solid results are generated by the retail segment, which offset declines on the corporate segment.