H2 turns to bilateral talks to get Optegra sale over the line, sources say

Rachel Lewis and Josh O'Neill
30 November 2022

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MidEuropa secured its majority stake in Optegra by holding bilateral discussions after vendor H2 Equity saw its auction for the ophthalmology group go quiet, according to two sources familiar with the situation.

The buyer was in the process throughout but turned to the talks to see where the parties could meet at agreeable terms, according to one of the sources, adding that H2's reinvestment and a "serious" increase in management equity helped build the alignment necessary to get the deal over the line.

CEE-focused MidEuropa announced yesterday the acquisition of a majority stake in the business, with H2 retaining a minority share.

In what has been an ongoing dynamic in the current M&A market, H2 faced a buyer-seller expectation gap during the auction, said the sources, with one adding that the final enterprise value came in slightly below GBP 330m.

H2 declined to comment. MidEuropa, Lincoln and Optegra did not respond to requests for comment at the time of publication.

As reported by sister publication Mergermarket earlier this month, the sponsor put the auction on ice after offers failed to meet expectations.

The process, which marketed Optegra off EUR 25m EBITDA, was led by Lincoln International. H2's exit plans came just three years after it acquired the company via its 2016 vintage H2 Equity Partners Fund V.

MidEuropa said in a statement that Optegra was well-positioned for organic growth within its current footprint and to expand into new geographies.

The firm held a first close on its latest fund, MidEuropa V, in December 2018, and an undisclosed final close in early January 2020.

Its other healthcare assets include CEE hospitals Regina Maria and MediGroup, which it merged and moved to a continuation fund in 2021, and Polish diagnostic laboratory group Diagnostyka.