Cinven is reviewing strategic options for laboratory-services company Synlab International GmbH including a potential sale, people with knowledge of the matter said.
The private equity firm has been speaking with potential advisers and could start a sale process early next year, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. Cinven plans to seek a valuation of about 5.5 billion euros ($6 billion) including debt for Augsburg, Germany-based Synlab, one of the people said.
A sale of Synlab would likely attract other private equity firms, the people said. No final decision has been made, and Cinven could elect to keep the business, the people said. A spokeswoman for Cinven declined to comment, while Synlab didn’t answer phone calls seeking comment.
Cinven first invested in Synlab in June 2015, buying a majority stake from fellow private equity firm BC Partners for about 1.7 billion euros, Bloomberg News reported at the time. It combined the business with Labco SA, which it agreed to buy earlier that year for 1.2 billion euros.
Synlab, led by Chief Executive Officer Mathieu Floreani, also counts Novo A/S and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan as minority investors, according to its website. It operates across more than 40 countries, handling more than 500 million clinical tests annually, according to Synlab’s website.
Cinven also owns stakes in retailer Kurt Geiger and German drugmaker Stada Arzneimittel AG, according to its website.
The sale plan comes at a time when Cinven’s rival Apax Partners is also weighing a sale of diagnostic services business Unilabs. The buyout firm is working with advisers at Rothschild & Co. to look at options for the business, people familiar with the matter said last week.
Source: Bloomberg
Can’t stop reading? Read more
Panoramic surpasses £100m hard cap for its new UK-focused fund
Glasgow-based Panoramic has held the final close of its Panoramic SME Fund 3 on its hard-cap of £100m. Funding was raised from a range of institutional investors, with previous investors continuing to back the regional investment house. Returning investor British...
After failed $100bn EY offer, TPG buys Crowe’s healthcare consulting unit
In the aftermath of a rejected offer for EY’s consulting business, US private equity firm TPG has signed a definitive agreement to acquire a majority stake in Crowe’s healthcare consulting unit. Under the transaction, Crowe Healthcare will become an independent entity...
TPG eyes 7bn sale of CAA, the agency of Brad Pitt and Jack Grealish
Pinault sees CAA as a way to invest in the value of celebrities and may be able to use some of the Hollywood talent giant’s famous faces to bolster luxury group Kering. French billionaire Francois-Henri Pinault is close to a $7bn deal to buy a majority stake in...