Mid Europe Partners, one of the leading private equity investors in Central Europe and Turkey, has signed an agreement to take over Regina Maria, one of the largest private healthcare operators in Romania.

The deal’s value hasn’t been made public, but market experts place it at over EUR 100 million, which makes this the largest transaction in the local healthcare sector to date, according to Ziarul Financiar.

Mid Europe bought an 80% stake in Regina Maria, from the American investment fund Advent International. The transaction is subject to anti-trust clearance and is expected to close in the last quarter of 2015.

“The acquisition of Regina Maria underscores the firm's continued focus on identifying attractive healthcare businesses in our Region, where, once this acquisition is completed, we will have made equity investments of EUR 0.5 billion in the sector. We have been actively monitoring the Romanian healthcare market for several years now and believe that it is poised for sustained growth and consolidation,” said Matthew Strassberg, Senior Partner of Mid Europa who founded and leads Mid Europa's healthcare sector practice.

Regina Maria has approximately 300,000 corporate subscribers, which make it one of the biggest premium integrated private healthcare services operators in Romania. The company has a national presence through 22 polyclinics, 4 hospitals, 11 labs, and 5 imaging facilities.

The healthcare operator had a turnover of EUR 55 million last year and it has targeted a turnover of EUR 67 million for this year. Its operational profit (EBITDA) was EUR 8.3 million in 2014 while the estimated level for this year is EUR 12 million.

Regina Maria, formerly known as Centrul Medical Unirea, was founded in 1995 by German-Iranian doctor Wargha Enayati, who still holds 20% of the company’s shares. Advent bought an 80% stake in Regina Maria for EUR 30 million, in 2010. Mid Europe Partners also wanted to buy the company in 2010, but Advent had a better offer.

Advent has helped Regina Maria almost triple its business since 2010 supporting the network’s expansion in Romania. Mid Europe Partners will likely continue to support this expansion. “With their backing, we are well placed to further accelerate Regina Maria's growth trajectory and capitalize on expansion opportunities,” said Fady Chreih, CEO of Regina Maria.

The Regina Maria takeover was executed by Csanad Daniel, Tas Tobias, Albert Jelinek and Bartosz Malecki from Mid Europa, with law firms White & Case and Bondoc & Asociatii as legal advisers. EY was the financial adviser, Banca Comerciala Romana (Erste Group) was the M&A adviser, and Erste Group provided debt financing, acting as the sole underwriter of the acquisition facility, according to Mid Europe Partners.

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editor@romania-insider.com