Fresenius to buy Spanish hospital chain for $6.4bn

AFP

German healthcare giant Fresenius said it will buy Spain’s largest private hospital group Quironsalud for 5.76 billion euros ($6.4 billion), adding more than 40 hospitals to its portfolio and expanding its
European reach.
Shares in Fresenius jumped nearly four percent on the news in early trading on the Frankfurt stock exchange on Tuesday.
The deal marks the group’s largest acquisition to date and will be made through its hospital operator Fresenius Helios, it said in a statement on Monday.
Quironsalud is Europe’s fourth-biggest private hospital operator with a network of 43 hospitals, 39 outpatient centres and some 300 occupational risk prevention centres across Spain, it added. The Spanish group has seen consistent growth in recent years and expects revenues
of around 2.5 billion euros
in 2016.
“This acquisition combines two leaders in terms of quality and size. Our patients will benefit from the exchange of knowledge and ideas,” said
Fresenius CEO Stephan Sturm.
The deal is expected to be completed by the end of the year or early 2017 and should lead to some 50 million euros in savings in the medium-term, according to the statement. The Quironsalud name will continue to be used in Spain, it added.
Fresenius is the umbrella for three major companies, renal health care giant Fresenius Medical Care, the infusion and transfusion specialist Fresenius Kabi and the hospital and clinic operator Fresenius Helios. The group reported overall sales of nearly 28 billion euros last year.