Palamon Capital Partners sells POLIKUM to SANA
Palamon Capital Partners (“Palamon”), one of Europe’s leading mid-market private equity firms, has agreed the sale of POLIKUM GmbH (“POLIKUM” or “the Company”), a German operator of outpatient health clinics (OHCs) to SANA, a leading private-sector hospitals operator in Germany.
Founded in 2004, POLIKUM manages a network of four OHCs in Berlin and Leipzig, which provide ambulatory general medicine and specialities including paediatrics, physiotherapy and cardiology to statutory and private patients. Following a series of reforms to the German healthcare market to improve efficiency and reduce costs by promoting outpatient care, POLIKUM has played a pioneering role in the rapidly growing multi-site OHC sector.
Since Palamon’s acquisition of POLIKUM in 2009, the Company has tripled revenues from €11 million to €33 million for 2014 and significantly improved its site-by-site performance. Key to this success was Palamon’s decision to strengthen the Company’s management team, reduce its cost base and fund the acquisition of an additional clinic in Berlin and a second regional cluster in Leipzig. As a result, POLIKUM today employs over 500 staff, including 130 physicians and treats over 500,000 patients per annum.
Pascal Noth, Partner at Palamon, commented, “Under our ownership, POLIKUM has been transformed from an early-stage investment into one of the leaders in the German outpatient market. With its fast-growing patient base, robust operating model and proven track record in delivering high-quality care, POLIKUM generated strong interest from the largest healthcare and hospital providers. We wish the team continued success with their new strategic partners.”
Stephan Kewenig, CEO of POLIKUM, commented, “Palamon’s support and strategic insight has been invaluable in establishing POLIKUM as a leading operator in the outpatient sector in Germany. We are now in a position to offer a broader range of support to patients throughout Berlin and Leipzig, and we look forward to working with SANA to capture the next stage of growth.”
Healthcare is an important investment theme for Palamon, which has committed more than €200 million to the sector over the past seven years. The Firm has invested across Europe in a range of market-leading businesses such as; SARquavitae, Spain’s largest elderly care provider with 12,000 staff; IDH, the largest dental corporate in the UK with more than 600 practices; Prospitalia, the leading Group Purchasing Organisation in Germany; and OberScharrer Group, the leading ophthalmology group in Germany.
