Talks for the takeover of a stake in Centrul Medical Unirea(CMU) private clinic network are making headway, with two potentialbuyers left in the race, after the list of interested parties hadincluded more than ten.
"In the past three months, there's been high interest in thecompany. In the first stage, there were 15 interested parties, thenthree and now two," said Wargha Enayati, now controlling themajority stake in CMU.
He specified that both strategic investors and investment fundsvoiced their interest in the company, but he chose not to specifythe name of the firms CMU is now in talks with.
According to ZF information, the two contenders left in the racefor CMU are Advent International and Mid Europa Partners investmentfunds.
This would be the first investment Advent and Mid Europa wouldmake in the Romanian field of private medical services, boastingone of the soundest performances in the economy and stillregistering growth in a period of decline for most industries.
At present, CMU's shareholder structure includes cardiologistWargha 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 generatedturnover worth 69.5m RON (16.5m euros), up 70% from 2008. For thisyear, the company's plans include reaching the 20m-euro mark.
The main private clinic networks have budgeted turnoverincreases of between 20 and 50% for this year, after a year 2009when growth reached even 80% in some cases.
Clinics' 2009 figures and projections for 2010 are in sharpcontrast with what is happening in the rest of the economy. Thesolid results are generated by the retail segment, which offsetdeclines on the corporate segment.
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