Elliott to strengthen its investment in SYNLAB by becoming minority shareholder alongside Cinven

International private equity firm, Cinven, announces that funds advised by Elliott Advisors (UK) Limited (“Elliott”) have signed an agreement today to simultaneously sell Elliott’s entire stake in SYNLAB AG (which is part of SYNLAB) to Ephios Bidco GmbH (“Ephios Bidco”) and re-invest proceeds from such sale into Ephios Holdco
S.à r.l.. Ephios Bidco and Ephios Holdco S.à r.l. are both entities controlled by funds managed and/or advised by Cinven.

Through this transaction, Elliott will become an indirect minority shareholder in SYNLAB alongside existing shareholders Cinven, Labcorp, and Qatar Holding LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Qatar Investment Authority. As part of this transaction, Cinven funds will reduce their indirect shareholding in SYNLAB while continuing to be its majority shareholder. The transaction with Elliott is subject to regulatory approvals and expected to close in early 2025.

SYNLAB is a leader in medical diagnostic services and specialty testing, offering a full range of innovative and reliable medical diagnostic services to patients, practising doctors, hospitals and clinics, governments and corporates. With more than 27,000 employees, including over 2,000 medical experts, SYNLAB operates in over 20 countries across four continents and has leading positions in many markets.

SYNLAB has made significant progress under the Cinven funds’ ownership. The combination of a successful buy-and-build strategy, growth investments and a series of commercial and operational initiatives have enabled SYNLAB to achieve strong organic growth and successfully navigate a challenging market environment over the last two years.

Anastasya Molodykh-McFarlane, Senior Principal and member of Cinven’s Healthcare sector team, stated:

“We value Elliott’s long-term commitment to SYNLAB which underlines the significant potential of the company in the field of medical diagnostics. Cinven looks forward to working together with the Elliott team, the SYNLAB management team and the other co-shareholders to support the further growth of SYNLAB.”

Nabeel Bhanji, Senior Portfolio Manager, and Paul Best, Head of European Private Equity, added on behalf of Elliott:

“We are pleased to be joining Cinven as shareholders in SYNLAB. With SYNLAB’s strong leadership and diversified presence across Europe and Latin America, we are confident that the company will continue to capitalise on the significant growth opportunities in essential medical diagnostic services.”

Upon closing of the transaction with Elliott, Ephios Bidco will hold at least 96.09% of the share capital and at least 97.15% of the voting rights of SYNLAB AG. Ephios Bidco today submitted a demand to the Management Board of SYNLAB to have the general meeting of SYNLAB AG resolve on the transfer of the shares in SYNLAB AG of the other (minority) shareholders to Ephios Bidco as majority shareholder in return for an appropriate cash compensation (squeeze-out under German stock corporation law). Ephios Bidco will announce the amount of the appropriate cash compensation separately to the Management Board of SYNLAB as soon as the required valuation work has been completed. Once the squeeze-out is completed, Ephios Bidco will hold 100% of the share capital and voting rights of SYNLAB AG.