Penta and Advent eying Polish healthcare sector

2010-01-27

Two major private equity firms have indicated plans to invest in the Polish healthcare sector in the coming months.
Thus, Penta Investments, the Czech private equity firm, has an ambition to consolidate the Polish market for laboratory diagnostics services, Jozef Janov, its managing partner for Poland, told Puls Biznesu as he outlined the company’s plans for this year. In 2010 Penta aims to spend about €500m on new deals, of which two or three transactions, worth approx. €250m, could be in Poland, he added.
Meanwhile, Chris Mruck, partner at Advent International, the US private equity group, said that the company was eyeing potential targets in the Polish medical services industry (as well as in FMCG and publishing). He told Parkiet that there were many good companies in need of capital after they failed to obtain bank financing, not because of their financial condition but a general wariness about lending to businesses. Mruck added that Advent - which wants to spend €150m in the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) region this year – would announce a new deal shortly, but declined to give any details.