Advent to pay 40m euros for Centrul Medical Unirea
Advent International investment fund is preparing to sign the
takeover of the controlling interest in private medical clinic
network Centrul Medical Unirea in a deal put at some 40 million
euros, market sources told ZF.
The investment fund, which would thus be making its first
investment in the local healthcare sector, is taking over about
70-80% in the network from 3i investment fund and cardiologist
Wargha Enayati. Enayati will retain a 20-30% stake.
The company is valued at more than 50 million euros, according to
ZF data, so that a deal involving over 70% of the shares would be
worth somewhere in the neighbourhood of 40 million euros. If
signed, the takeover of CMU will be the biggest deal in the local
medical service industry, an about 400 million-euro market that
continues to grow despite the difficult economy.
The 3i first revealed plans to sell last October and the list of
interested parties included 15 names of both investment funds and
strategic investors. It later shrank to eight, then to three and
eventually narrowed down to two. In this last phase, talks were
conducted with Advent and Mid Europa Partners, also an investment
fund, according to ZF's information.
"There is a trend towards a specific direction, but nothing has
been formalised yet," said Enayati, who did not want to reveal
anything more. He, however, said that a final decision was to be
made around 7th or 8th of February. Enayati had previously said
that talks were being conducted with two investment funds without
disclosing their names.
Advent officials did not provide any comment by the time the story
was ready for print. 3i officials would not comment on the
information at hand.
CMU had budgeted 4.6 million-euro EBITDA for last year, which it
did attain. According to preliminary data, CMU posted 69.5 million
RON (16.5 million euros) turnover, an increase of 70% compared with
2008. The company's plans for this year set the target at 20
million euros.