SYNLAB AG: SYNLAB agrees to sell Swiss business to Sonic Healthcare

SYNLAB (FSE: SYAB), the leader in medical diagnostic services and specialty testing in Europe, today announced the sale of SYNLAB SUISSE SA to Sonic Healthcare (ASX:SHL; ADR:SKHHY), having received the required approvals of antitrust authorities.

“After a careful review of our activities in Switzerland and the developments in the diagnostics sector as a whole, SYNLAB Group decided to accept Sonic Healthcare’s offer for SYNLAB SUISSE SA and to sell all of our operations in Switzerland,” said Mathieu Floreani, CEO of the SYNLAB Group. “Efficient capital deployment is part of the SYNLAB strategy”, Mathieu continued. “Staying true to our strategy, we are applying an active portfolio management to optimise the SYNLAB network, aiming at a dense geographic footprint while benefitting from scale effects. This generates value for our stakeholders”, Mathieu added.

Operations in Switzerland were expected to generate revenues of around €50 million in the second half year of 2023. The sale does not lead to a change in the Company’s FY 2023 revenue guidance of around €2.7 billion. This transaction also has a positive impact on the adjusted EBITDA margin of SYNLAB within the given FY 2023 guidance of 16-18% and will reduce the adjusted net debt of the Group by around CHF 150 million (around €154 million).

With a national presence of laboratories in Switzerland, the combination of operations of SYNLAB SUISSE SA and Sonic Healthcare offers great potential to further improve the provision of diagnostic services to Swiss physicians in medical practice and hospitals. Mathieu Floreani: “Our highly skilled SYNLAB colleagues across our 26 locations are at the heart of the business we have built in Switzerland. We are thankful for their contributions and dedication and we are confident they will succeed in their new setup.”

With the closing of the transaction expected for 3 July 2023, SYNLAB is in an even better position to provide leading diagnostic services to patients and healthcare professionals while at the same time ensuring continued profitable growth and scale. As diagnostics are highly important for healthcare systems around the world, SYNLAB will continue providing early detection, prevention, and personalised medicine for future-proof healthcare.

 

For more information:

 

Media contact: Steffi Susan Kim, FTI Consulting	steffi.kim@fticonsulting.com +49 (0) 171 5565 996
Investor contact: Anna Niedl, SYNLAB	anna.niedl@synlab.com +49 160 9176 0464

 

About SYNLAB

• SYNLAB Group is the leader in medical diagnostic services and specialty testing in Europe. The Group offers a full range of innovative and reliable medical diagnostics to patients, practising doctors, hospitals and clinics, governments and corporates.
• Providing the leading level of service within the industry, SYNLAB is the partner of choice for routine and specialty diagnostics in human and veterinary medicine. The Group continuously innovates medical diagnostic services for the benefit of patients and customers.
• SYNLAB operates in 35 countries across four continents and holds leading positions in most markets. More than 28,000 employees, including over 2,000 medical experts, as well as a large number of other specialists such as biologists, chemists and laboratory technicians, contribute every day to the Group’s worldwide success. SYNLAB carries out ~600 million laboratory tests per year and achieved revenues of EUR 3.25 billion in 2022.
• Ticker symbol: SYAB; ISIN: DE000A2TSL71
• More information can be found on www.synlab.com

 

 

Forward looking statements

This document does not constitute or form a part of, and should not be construed as, an offer for sale or subscription of or solicitation of any offer to purchase or subscribe for any securities in any jurisdiction.

Statements made in this document may include forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include all statements that are not historical facts and can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as the words "believes", "expects”, “expected”, "may", "will", "would", "should", "seeks", "pro forma", "anticipates", "intends", "plans", "estimates", “estimated”, or the negative of any thereof or other variations thereof or comparable terminology, or by discussions of strategy or intentions. These statements are not guarantees of future actions or performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions as to future events that may not prove to be accurate. Actual actions or results may differ materially from what is expressed or forecasted in these forward-looking statements. As a result, these statements speak only as of the date they were made and SYNLAB undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. It should be noted that past performance is not a guide to future performance. Interim results are not necessarily indicative of full-year results.