The healthcare network Regina Maria becomes a part of Mehiläinen Group from Finland

  Mehiläinen, Finland’s largest social care and healthcare provider, has taken the next steps in growing its international presence, acquiring the Regina Maria Group from MidEuropa, a private equity investor with deep roots in Central Europe, in a sale that represents the largest healthcare services transaction in Central Europe, https://www.investorsinhealthcare.com/ informs.   Regina Maria Group is a leading integrated private healthcare network serving over 3 million unique patients operating under the Regina Maria brand in Romania and the MediGroup brand in Serbia.   “Regina Maria is one of the fastest-growing and highest-quality healthcare service providers in Europe, led by some of the best professionals in the field,” said Janne-Olli Järvenpää, long-time CEO of Mehiläinen. “MediGroup is also a leading player in its market with excellent quality.”   In conjunction with these major acquisitions, Mehiläinen has announced Hellman & Friedman (H&F) will become a second major investor alongside CVC Funds, which first invested in Mehiläinen in 2018. US-based PE firm H&F has been investing in Europe for 25 years and has extensive experience in the healthcare sector. For Mehiläinen, new investors and funding will accelerate the execution of its ambitious growth strategy.   “Mehiläinen’s revenue has grown more than fivefold over the last 10 years,” said Järvenpää. “Private equity owners with a long-term value creation mindset play a key role in supporting Mehiläinen’s leadership in international expansion and service development.”   Earlier in the year Mehiläinen acquired InMedica Group, the largest private healthcare provider in Lithuania.   MidEuropa acquired Regina Maria in 2015 and a majority stake in MediGroup in July 2018, integrating the two brands into the Regina Maria Group in 2021. During its hold, MidEuropa teamed up with and consistently backed the vision of Regina Maria’s entrepreneurial CEO, Fady Chreih, and management team in executing a strategy of in-market consolidation complemented by selective international expansion.   “Under our ownership, we achieved an approximately ten-fold increase in the group’s revenues and Ebitda,” said Matthew Strassberg, partner and head of MidEuropa’s healthcare sector, who has led the firm’s healthcare investments for nearly two decades.   MidEuropa committed over €300m in investments to support the expansion of the company’s footprint from c.50 to over 400 facilities, including the construction of new hospitals offering comprehensive treatments, as well as investments in the latest innovations in diagnostics, robotic surgery, and radiotherapy. It made around 40 acquisitions and built over 30 greenfield facilities.   “We also supported investment in digital innovation, which has resulted in over 1 million telemedicine consultations over the past three years,” said Eugeniu Prodan, Principal at MidEuropa.   Having developed the business into a leading healthcare provider in the markets it serves, Chreih is now looking forward “to the next chapter of our journey, benefiting from the experience and expertise of a highly reputable healthcare leader in the Nordics.”   MidEuropa’s exit from Regina Maria Group follows on from the firm’s IPO of Diagnostyka on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, which raised gross proceeds in excess of €400m, and saw the company achieve market capitalisation of over €1bn on the day of the listing.   The firm’s healthcare sector investments have been consistently recognised as strategically ‘must-have’ assets. Notable past healthcare investments include: Lux Med, ta private healthcare provider in Poland, sold to Bupa; Alpha Medical, a laboratory diagnostics group in Slovakia and Czech Republic, sold to Unilabs; Kent Hospital, a premium medical centre specialised in oncology and advanced-surgery in Turkey, sold to Ac?badem; and Walmark, a vitamins and supplements producer in Central Europe, sold to Stada.   The firm’s current portfolio includes Optegra, a pan-European ophthalmology platform, as well as Famar, a recently acquired CDMO.   The Regina Maria Group transaction was executed by Eugeniu Prodan, Bogdan Bunea, Valentina Giambasu, and Ivo Cavrak (legal). Advisers to MidEuropa included: Rothschild & Co (financial adviser), A&O Shearman, RTPR, and Karanovic & Partners (legal counsel), PricewaterhouseCoopers (financial and tax), and LEK (commercial).