Apax acquires co-controlling stake in Fremman Capital-backed Palex Medical

Min Ho
31 July 2023

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UK-headquartered sponsor Apax Partners has announced its intention to jointly acquire a co-controlling stake in Palex Medical alongside Fremman Capital, according to a statement today.

The selling shareholders are Fremman, the current majority shareholders and other minority shareholders, it said. Apheon (Ergon Capital Partners) and Corpfin Capital became minority shareholders in Palex when Fremman took a majority stake in 2021.

The deal sees the Catalan company, which specialises in the distribution of medical equipment reportedly valued at just over EUR 1bn.

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in 4Q23. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Fremman is currently deploying equity via its debut fund, Fremman I MM, which raised EUR 600m, alongside a further EUR 400m for its co-investment programme, this month. Apax Partners is currently deploying equity via Apax X, which raised USD 11bn in 2019.

Mergermarket had recently reported that Fremman was "considering all strategic alternatives that facilitate the path for Palex to carry out sizeable transformational acquisitions and form a clear European leader; and Bank of America is also helping Fremman on this front," a spokesperson said then.

Palex Medical currently generates EBITDA in the region of EUR 57m with an ambition to reach around EUR 80m for this year, as reported.

Since Fremman's investment in Palex, the company has doubled in size, in part through eight bolt-ons, including transformational acquisitions across 4 countries, Ricardo de Serdio, founding partner and CEO at Fremman Capital, said in the statement.

Company
Founded in 1955 and headquartered in Barcelona, Palex focuses on the marketing, sales and logistics of medtech equipment for public and private hospitals and laboratories in Spain, Portugal and Italy. The company offers over 150,000 product references from more than 600 tier-1 manufacturers.

People
Palex - Xavier Carbonell (CEO).
Fremman Capital - Ricardo de Serdio (founding Partner and CEO).
Apax - Frank Ehmer (partner).

Advisors
Vendors - Bank of America, Jefferies and Credit Suisse (financial advisors); Pérez-Lorca and Uría Menéndez (legal).
Apax - Sullivan & Cromwell, Garrigues (legal).
Management - Dextra Corporat, Deloitte (management advisory).