PriestleySoundy is advising David Rolfe (CEO of Althea UK) and his Senior Management Team in connection with the acquisition of a majority stake in Althea UK by funds and/or accounts managed, advised or controlled by DWS Group via its portfolio company Inframedica. The transaction, which is part of the sale of the whole of the Althea Group and is conditional on regulatory approval, is expected to close in the third quarter of 2022. Financial terms are not being disclosed, although the deal reportedly values the Althea Group at in excess of $1 billion.
Althea, which is controlled by Permira, was originally established in 2014 through the combination of MESA in Switzerland and Asteral in the UK, followed by the IBSL Group and TBS in Italy, with the vision to create the leading independent medical equipment service provider, allowing hospitals to benefit from integrated, vendor-neutral and high-quality service at an affordable cost. Today, Althea serves over 2,700 healthcare facilities across 18 countries, with 3,000+ employees managing over 1.4 million medical devices.
Inframedica was established by DWS and acquired Medipass, a radiotherapy and medical diagnostic firm, from Italy’s KOS in 2020. In 2021, Inframedica acquired RadioOnkologieNetzwerk (RON), the leading radiotherapy platform provider in Germany, which was then integrated with Medipass creating the leading European provider of cancer care and advanced diagnostic imaging services.
DWS is one of the world’s leading private infrastructure investment managers across equity and debt solutions in both North America and Europe. As of 31 March 2022, DWS had €902 billion of assets under management.
Permira and the other selling shareholders are being advised by Giliberti and Trscornia e Associati. DWS are being advised by Clifford Chance.
11 May 2022
