EQT in exclusivity to acquire Cerba from Partners Group

Harriet Matthews
31 March 2021

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EQT Private Equity is in exclusive negotiations to acquire France-based medical diagnostics business Cerba HealthCare from Partners Group.

The deal values the company at around €4.5bn, according to Bloomberg, and a source close to the situation confirmed this valuation to Unquote.

Bloomberg reported earlier in March 2021 that Partners Group and Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments) were working on a potential sale of Cerba, with the business expected to be valued at around €3bn.

PSP Investments will hold a minority stake in the business following Partners Group's exit.

EQT intends to invest in Cerba via EQT IX, which generally makes equity investments of €150m-1bn. The fund has a target of €14.75bn and a hard-cap of €15bn. The fund is expected to hold a final close in Q2 2021.

PSP Investments and Partners Group acquired Cerba from PAI in 2017. Cerba made several add-on acquisitions during the investment period, including LFPI Gestion's Accolab in October 2018, followed by Italy-based Centro Diagnostico Basile in February 2021.

Previous funding
Ixen Partners, Institut Pasteur and Initiative & Finance acquired a majority stake in Cerba HealthCare (then known as Cerba European Lab) in 1998 in a deal valued at €15.14m, according to Unquote Data.

In 2002, Astorg acquired the company from its previous investors in a €75m buyout.

In 2006, IK completed an SBO that valued Cerba at around €160m.

PAI acquired a majority stake in Cerba from IK in 2010. Contemporary press reports stated that the deal was valued at around €500m, equating to 10x the company's €52m EBITDA.

In January 2017, Partners Group and PSP Investments bought Cerba from PAI in a deal valued in the €1.8-1.9bn region, equating to an entry multiple of around 12x the company's €150m EBITDA. Partners Group invested via a number of its private equity strategies, including Partners Group Direct Equity 2016, which held a final close in July 2017 on €3bn.

According to Unquote sister publication Debtwire, a €794m term loan and a revolving credit facility of €175m were provided by JP Morgan, Natixis, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank and BNP Paribas to back the deal.

Company
Founded in 1967 and headquartered in Saint-Ouen-l'Aumone, Cerba is a medical diagnostics business that assists pharmaceutical and biotechnology businesses with the development of new compounds and clinical trials. The company has 50 private and hospital laboratories globally and employs 7,700 staff.

People
Cerba HealthCare – Catherine Courboillet (CEO).
Partners Group – Kim Nguyen (partner).
EQT Private Equity – Nicolas Brugère (partner, head of EQT France).

Advisers
Equity – Deutsche Bank (corporate finance); Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (legal); Paul Hastings (legal); PwC (financial due diligence, tax); BCG (commercial due diligence).
Vendor – Linklaters, Fabrice de la Morandière, Mehdi Boumedine, Jacques Mazé, Zoé Giovanetti (legal); Natixis Partners (corporate finance); UBS (corporate finance).