EQT exits Schuelke to Athos-led consortium

Rachel Lewis
07 August 2023

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EQT has sold infection specialist Schuelke to a consortium led by family office Athos, in one of the first large-cap private equity healthcare deals to get over the line this year.

The deal gave the company a EUR 1.4bn price tag for the asset, according to media reports.

The Athos family office manages the wealth of brothers Andreas and Thomas Struengmann, who were early backers of BioNTech prior to its vaccine partnership with Pfizer. Other co-investors, including Bitburger Holding, are joining the ticket, EQT said.

Athos also co-invested when EQT moved Swiss drug delivery manufacturer SHL Medical to a longer-term investment strategy.

EQT said in a statement that it delivered double-digit annual growth and almost doubled the EBITDA of the core healthcare business over its holding period.

It tapped Bank of America in 2Q23 to oversee a highly anticipated exit, just three years after it first acquired the asset via a carve-out from Air Liquide for around EUR 1bn.

The sellside was marketing the asset off EBITDA of roughly EUR 100m, as reported.

EQT held the asset via the 2018-vintage EQT VIII, which is already significantly realised compared to other vehicles of the same period. It has already partially exited Azelis and SUSE via IPO, in addition to moving SHL Medical to its long-term fund.

The quick-flip window goes against the grain at a time when holding periods are elongating and other large-cap auctions in the healthcare space have thus far failed to materialise in an exit.

Company
Headquartered in Norderstedt, Schuelke supplies hospitals and other healthcare institutions with high-quality disinfectants and antisepsis products. It also sells to the pharmacy and direct patient care channels, as well as the global life science industry. It employs around 1,200 people and generates sales in more than 80 countries.

People
EQT - Matthias Wittkowski (partner).
Schuelke - Stefan Kukacka (CEO).

Advisors
Vendor - Bank of America (M&A); Freshfields (legal); Deloitte (tax, financial); Bain & Company (commercial).