IMAP Hungary advised Affidea on its acquisition of Főnix-Med, the Group’s first acquisition in the outpatient service provision market. This is the largest transaction in the sector in the country, executed by a strategic buyer. 

Affidea saw convergence of the diagnostics and outpatient services, and therefore, the Group decided to actively pursue opportunities in this space. By acquiring Főnix-Med, Affidea is now able to offer a wider range of outpatient services and occupational healthcare services to its individual and corporate employee clients, in an integrated manner, by combining these services with heath diagnostic services. 

Established in Hungary 26 years ago, Affidea’s diagnostics services are currently available in 16 countries, across 230 service centers. Főnix-Med employs over 600 staff and provides corporate and occupational health services to more than 100,000 employees at Hungarian companies. 

This acquisition is a major step from both a local and a global perspective; in Hungary, it is another step towards the consolidation of the Hungarian healthcare sector, a trend that started nearly a year ago when new players began entering the market. Globally, this was the first sign of an intra-industry consolidation and we expect other companies to follow suit. 

Market Outlook

Outpatient care and diagnostics converge as:

• HC provision becoming more expensive, calling for efficiency improvement and scale
• Outpatient / remote care becoming more important in HC service provision
• Customers ask for convenience
• This trend is similar to when inpatient and outpatient care provision converged and is currently consolidating.

 

Valuation Summary

• Deal financials haven’t been made available. However, transactions in this sector are usually quite highly valued; valuation range between 8 and 15-7mes EBITDA, depending on the size, geography and company specifics.
• IMAP Hungary advised Affidea on crystalizing its strategy of moving into outpatient care and initiated discussions with various local outpatient providers, including Főnix-Med. IMAP supported Affidea through the whole acquisition process, which was atypically long as some of the target’s operations fell out with the area of activities Affidea was willing to take over and thus required separa7ng out. 
• IMAP Hungary relied on its extensive experiences in the healthcare sector as the team has worked on multiple local and international projects in the sector, covering Health Management, Outpatient, Inpatient and Diagnostic services in Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia and other Central Eastern European countries. 

 

Client comment

I am convinced that Hungary will soon face a turning point in private healthcare provision. We have been at the forefront of these changes and I am glad that IMAP Hungary supported us so well in our endeavor.

György Leitner, General Manager, Affidea Hungary