LONDON, UK: The Apax Funds have agreed to sell their stakes in Unilabs, a leading pan-European provider of laboratory and imaging diagnostics services, to A.P. Møller Holding.
The transaction is expected to close in Q1 2022 subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.
The Apax IX investment in Unilabs is expected to deliver a total gross MOIC of 3.3x and a gross IRR of 27%. The Apax Europe VI investment is expected to deliver a total gross MOIC of 5.5x and a gross IRR of 15%.
The sale remains subject to customary closing conditions.
Apax Europe VI first invested in a minority stake in Unilabs in 2007, taking the Company private from the Swiss Stock Exchange and subsequently merging it with Capio Diagnostics, a Nordic laboratory and imaging business.
In 2017, Apax IX gained majority control of the Company by acquiring the outstanding shareholding in Unilabs held by unaffiliated shareholders. Apax Europe VI retained its minority stake. Since then, the Apax Funds have supported Unilabs’ significant investments into people, technology, and M&A.
Over the past years Apax has supported Unilabs in its transformation, helping it to become a pan-European leader in diagnostic services and a pioneer in digital radiology and pathology. During the Apax Funds’ ownership, Unilabs drew on Apax’s healthcare expertise and network as well as the support of the Operational Excellence Practice to transform its operations and invest in the Company’s future.
As a result, Unilabs grew both organically and through M&A, completing 50+ acquisitions since 2017, and it currently operates in 15 countries with market-leading positions in many of these.
AGA, whose shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange, provides investors with access to the investment expertise of Apax through its investments in a diversified portfolio of private equity funds advised by Apax as well as derived investments in debt and equity. AGA is an investor in Apax Europe VI with a total commitment of €10.6m. In May 2016, AGA made a commitment of c.€303m to Apax IX.
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