Sonic acquires Belgian’s Medhold Group
Sonic Healthcare Limited (SHL) announced the acquisition of Belgian laboratory group Medhold Group for an enterprise value of EUR 232 million. The company said the purchase price represents an EBITDA multiple of approximately 8.4 times before synergies and that the acquisition would be immediately earnings per share accretive and would be funded from existing cash and debt facilities.
Sonic said Medhold has established an outstanding reputation for medical quality and service excellence in all areas of routine and esoteric testing, including anatomical pathology since being established in 1980.
The company said founders and joint CEOs, Annie Vereecken and Geert Salembier, would continue to lead Medhold and its staff of over 300.
Sonic said Medhold operates from a new, purpose-built, state-of-the-art reference laboratory in Antwerp and has four additional smaller laboratories service regional areas in northern Belgium, as well as the Brussels metropolitan area.
“Medhold also services hospitals and other referral sources in the Netherlands out of the nearby Antwerp laboratory facility,” the company said.
”With a combined population of approximately 27 million, Belgium and the Netherlands ideally suit Sonic's criteria for growth in stable and reliable laboratory markets within Sonic’s core regions of Western Europe, Australia and North America.”
Sonic Healthcare’s CEO and managing director, Dr Colin Goldschmidt, said the acquisition further strengthens Sonic's position as the clear leader in European laboratory medicine.
“This acquisition presents us with new opportunities for additional growth and synergy capture in markets that suit our operations,” Dr Goldschmidt said.
At the close of trade Thursday, Sonic shares were trading at $14.28.
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