OMERS Infrastructure (37.5%) and Goldman Sachs Asset Management (37.5%) together with AXA IM Alts (25%), have today announced the signing of an agreement to acquire 100% of amedes Group (“amedes”), a leading provider of medical diagnostics services in Germany, Belgium and Austria, from current investor Antin Infrastructure Partners.
With a focus on providing specialty medical diagnostic testing, amedes leverages its 75+ laboratories and specialty medicine sites across Germany, Belgium and Austria to support the needs of the healthcare industry through the delivery of quick, accurate and reliable diagnostic services, conducting more than 400,000 analyses per day.
Under the consortium’s ownership, amedes will continuously pursue its strategic objectives and further expand its leading market position in integrated specialty diagnostics. As a specialist network, the group will continue to focus on medical excellence, innovation and specialization to address key trends in the healthcare sector. amedes will continue to focus on its proven partnership with physicians and act as an interface between diagnostics and clinical medicine, particularly in gynaecology, endocrinology and fertility medicine. Other growth areas include genetics, rheumatology and oncology.
Infrastructure investors are increasingly focusing on the healthcare industry given the essentiality of the services it provides, strong secular tailwinds, the stability and resiliency of the cash flows, the defensive nature of the healthcare spending, and the supportive regulatory framework on prices and licencing requirements. Within the healthcare industry, medical diagnostic testing plays a vital role in improving the detection and prevention of diseases, and amedes stands out as a market leader.
Philippe Busslinger, Senior Managing Director and Head of Europe, OMERS Infrastructure, said: “OMERS is pleased to be backing amedes and its management team in its continued pursuit of medical excellence. amedes is our fourth infrastructure investment in Germany, which continues to be a core region of interest to us. We welcome the opportunity to increase our exposure to this market and the lab diagnostics sector, as it further diversifies our portfolio and contributes to the generation of steady returns for our pension plan members. We look forward to working alongside our investment partners to support amedes as it continues to perform its essential role in the communities in which it is active.”
Philippe Camu, Global Co-Head of the Infrastructure business within Goldman Sachs Asset Management said: “amedes is a leader in European diagnostics, providing essential services for the detection and prevention of diseases. Our investment thesis is based on the resiliency of the business, driven by a stable regulatory framework as well as by strong secular trends in the sector.” Matteo Botto Poala, Managing Director in the Infrastructure business within Goldman Sachs Asset Management, added “We are excited to work with amedes’ management team to accelerate growth through innovation, commercial and operational initiatives, and acquisitions.”
Mark Gilligan, Head of Infrastructure Equity at AXA IM Alts, said: “Our investment into amedes alongside Goldman Sachs Asset Management and OMERS Infrastructure, follows our June 2021 investment in Stockholm Exergi and aligns with our strategy of assembling a premier portfolio of core through to core plus European infrastructure businesses. Through its superb network of medical laboratories and clinics across Germany, Belgium and Austria, it possesses that most critical thing we seek as infrastructure investors – essentiality. We share our partners’ vision for the growth of the firm and look forward to working with management as it continues to deliver world-class cost-effective services to its customers and patients.”
The transaction remains subject to customary regulatory approvals and is expected to close before year end.
