Media Release
02 December 2021
Unilabs acquired by Danish A.P. Moller Holding
Geneva, 3 December 2021: Unilabs, the leading European diagnostic services provider, has been acquired by A.P. Moller Holding, founded and run by the Maersk family. Unilabs’ majority owner, Apax Partners, agreed and signed the deal, with completion expected in the coming months.
“Over the past years we have built a strong Care Big culture at Unilabs where people feel the pride and joy of making the difference, working as the leaders in digitally enabled laboratory, pathology and radiology diagnostics services. This culture is the “secret sauce” behind our strong financial performance, which has propelled us to the very top of the medical diagnostics market. We are delighted to become part of A.P. Moller, which has a stellar global reputation, a great culture, and the long-term outlook that comes naturally to a family-run business – we have found a perfect match for our company,” said Michiel Boehmer, Unilabs’ CEO. “I would like to thank Apax, who have been part of our journey since 2007 – Apax supported our strategy, helped us grow into the international diagnostics champion we are today, and set us up perfectly for the next chapter.”
“Unilabs offers a good fit with our Group’s purpose and understanding for how to run local operations requiring a high degree of automation and local logistics across different geographies,” said Robert M. Uggla, CEO, A.P. Moller Holding. “We are deeply impressed with Unilabs’ expertise within testing, pathology, and radiology. We see the opportunity to grow the company’s operations to new markets, offering important and immediate solutions to countries having limited access to critical healthcare solutions, such as teleradiology services.”
“We strongly believe that Unilabs offers an important solution to society’s healthcare challenges, far beyond today’s pandemic,” said Jan T. Nielsen, CIO, A.P. Moller Holding. “Dedicated specialist knowledge, industrial scale, and process excellence are critical success factors to becoming a trusted partner to healthcare providers. A.P. Moller Holding will continue the investments in these critical core capabilities, while also accelerating Unilabs’ expansion of its digital platform and geographical footprint.”
“It has been great to work with Michiel, Jos Lamers, and the whole Unilabs team over the past few years,” said Steven Dyson, Partner at Apax. “The company has undergone significant transformation which includes accelerating organic growth, expanding into new markets through strategic acquisitions and leading the digitalisation of healthcare, to become a leading provider of diagnostics services in Europe.”
“We are proud to have helped Unilabs build and scale the business and we would like to thank Michiel, Jos, and the team and wish them every success for the future in this new exciting chapter with their new partner,” said Arthur Brothag, Partner at Apax.
The transaction is expected to close in the next few months, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.
Media contacts:
Alistair Hammond, Director of Communications
e: Alistair.Hammond@Unilabs.com
t: +44 771 773 0441
Mika Bildsøe Lassen, Head of Branding and Corporate Communications
t: +45 2055 2655
Katarina Sallerfors, Head of Communications, Apax Partners
e: Katarina.Sallerfors@apax.com
t: +44 207 666 6526
Unilabs is one of Europe’s largest diagnostics companies with significant activity in the Middle East and Latin America. It is the only pan-European diagnostics group delivering digitally enabled laboratory, pathology, and imaging services to patients and healthcare providers. As a leading digital champion covering the full diagnostic spectrum, Unilabs’ 12,000+ employees save and improve lives every day.
Unilabs is fully engaged in the fight against Covid-19 – investing heavily in technology, equipment, and people to deliver fast, reliable Covid-19 tests across over 15 countries. Since the start of the pandemic, Unilabs has delivered almost 20 million Covid tests already.
A.P. Moller Holding is the parent company of the A.P. Moller Group. The purpose of A.P. Moller Holding is to develop ‘nyttig virksomhed’, i.e., to invest in and build businesses that have a positive impact on society. For more information, visit www.apmoller.com.
Apax Partners LLP ("Apax") is a leading global private equity advisory firm. For nearly 50 years, Apax has worked to inspire growth and ideas that transform businesses. The firm has raised and advised funds with aggregate commitments of more than $60 billion. The Apax Funds invest in companies across four global sectors of Healthcare, Tech, Services and Internet/Consumer. These funds provide long-term equity financing to build and strengthen world-class companies. For further information about Apax, please visit www.apax.com.
Apax is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK.