Waterland's Athera makes three bolt-ons

The deals will expand Athera's presence in northern Germany and in the Rhein-Ruhr region.

The shareholders and managing directors of the centres will remain operationally involved in the integrated businesses, according to a statement.

Cologne-based Das Zentrum was acquired in September; the two remaining businesses were acquired in November 2020 and the deals are expected to be completed in early 2021.

Waterland acquired Athera, then called Rehacon, in January 2019, deploying equity via its €2bn Waterland Private Equity Fund VII. Deutsche Apotheker- und Ärztebank and SEB provided debt to support the buyout.

Waterland has provided additional equity to support the bolt-on.

Athera operates 120 facilities and now has 1,000 employees, compared with 600 staff at the time of Waterland's investment. It now reports revenues of €45m compared with €36m in 2018. The business has now made 11 add-on acquisitions as part of its buy-and-build strategy.

Company
Das Zentrum, Heim & Hendrixen and Therapie-Zentrum Gert Ehlers are based in Cologne, Wolfsburg and Oberhausen, respectively. Das Zentrum has 20 employees and Therapie-Zentrum Gert Ehlers has 33 employees, while Heim & Hendrixen employs 25 staff. The centres also provide at-home treatment.

People
Athera – Albrecht Grell (CEO).
Waterland Private Equity – Carsten Rahlf (managing partner).

Advisers
Acquirer – Sonntag & Partner, Thomas Rau (legal).

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• Topics
• Expansion
• DACH
• Healthcare
• Acquisition finance
• Build-up
• Germany
• Waterland Private Equity