Permira to exit Althea

July 2022 | DEALFRONT | PRIVATE EQUITY & VENTURE CAPITAL

Financier Worldwide Magazine

July 2022 Issue

Private equity firm Permira has agreed to sell Althea Group, an Italian provider of technology management services to the European healthcare industry, to F2i and DWS.

The deal, which is subject to customary regulatory approvals, is expected to close in the third quarter of 2022.

Established in 2014, Althea serves over 2700 healthcare facilities across 18 countries with more than 3000 employees managing over 1.4 million medical devices. The company was formed 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.

Through consolidation, Althea has brought together healthcare businesses with highly skilled management teams across Europe to build a platform with unique capabilities and differentiated positioning to partner with hospitals and clinics. Permira said the company had carried out 14 acquisitions and developed a global supply chain infrastructure under its ownership.

According to a statement announcing the deal, Althea is the number one European player, as well as the leader in each of its core markets – Italy and the UK – and a strategic partner for healthcare providers. The platform has unique access to hospitals through its turnkey offering and ability to drive collaboration with the public sector. It pioneered the development of public-private healthcare partnerships in Italy and managed equipment services in the UK, evolving into a strategic partner for healthcare institutions, priming Althea for further growth through expansion of existing offerings, and capabilities within adjacent value-add services in consumables management services, telemedicine, homecare and tech-enabled partnerships.

“I would like to thank Permira and Silvia Oteri in particular for having consistently supported the creation and development of the Althea Group, which has deeply transformed such an important sector in recent years,” said Alessandro Dogliani, chief executive of Althea. “I am also convinced that F2i is now the perfect partner to accompany the Group in its next growth chapter, which will lead Althea to further strengthen its role as a partner to hospitals through investments aimed at modernizing biomedical infrastructure supporting the national hospital system.”

“We’re proud of what Althea has become on the back of a transformational vision to rethink service provision in such a critical space and would like to thank Alessandro Dogliani and the whole Althea team for believing in this vision and for our partnership,” said Silvia Oteri, partner and head of healthcare at Permira. “Under their leadership and with the funds’ support, Althea has grown into a European leader, a unique platform for management of healthcare technology and a true indispensable partner to healthcare facilities across Europe to allow them to focus on care provision efficiently and effectively.

“We believe that F2i and DWS are the best partners to take the business forward from here, and wish them and the management team the best for this next phase of Althea’s journey,” he added.

Permira held a $4bn final hard-cap close for its second Growth Opportunities Fund in December 2021, beating the target of $2.5bn. The new vehicle is more than twice the size of its predecessor fund which closed on $1.7bn two years ago. The firm also led a $312m series G funding in UK FinTech GoCardless in February and pushed its valuation up to $2.1bn. It also exited African data centre services provider Teraco Data Environments to Digital Realty in January.

Permira appointed Goldman Sachs to manage the sale of Trieste-based Althea in May 2019, with BC Partners, Carlyle, Cinven and KKR all pitching for the firm.

Richard Summerfield