Investindustrial's Lifebrain nears sale to Cerba HealthCare

Micaela Osella
20 July 2021

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EQT-backed Cerba HealthCare is close to acquiring Italian laboratory diagnostics company Lifebrain, according to four sources familiar with the situation.

Cerba HealthCare and the private equity vendor, Investindustrial – which is advised on the deal by JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs, as reported – are in final-stage talks, with signing set to take place in the next couple of days, two of the sources said.

The parties have already agreed on a price of more than EUR 1bn, these two sources said. Exclusivity was awarded last week to accelerate the signing, they added.

Lifebrain is expected to post EUR 100m in EBITDA for this year, compared with EUR 50m in 2019, as reported in the Italian press. The asset has been marketed based on 12x-15x its 2021 earnings, per a recent press report, which also pointed to the high multiples applied to similar deals in the space such as the sale of Italian medical diagnostics group Bianalisi to private equity house Charme for more than EUR 400m, as reported by Mergermarket.

Lifebrain's auction kicked off in March. It attracted initial interest from French Groupe Inovie, controlled by PE firm Ardian; and from Biogroup, a French diagnostic-centre company in which Intermediate Capital Group has a minority stake, as reported.

Rome-based Lifebrain focuses on routine and speciality laboratory tests, including for Covid-19, and operates 360 laboratories in Italy.

Cerba HealthCare and Lifebrain did not return requests for comment. EQT, Investindustrial, JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs declined to comment.

Lifebrain was co-founded in 2013 by Austrian professors Michael Havel and Bernhard Auer. Investindustrial has backed the business since 2018. At the time, Lifebrain generated annual revenues in excess of EUR 100m.