Portfolio
Nature of Business
Ambea is the leading provider of healthcare and care services in the Nordic region and one of the largest European healthcare service providers. Ambea was created through the acquisition of Swedish based Carema in 2005 and the subsequent acquisition of Finland-based Mehiläinen in 2006, allowing the Group to develop from a local Swedish player into the Nordic market leader.
In 2009 alone, physicians across the group handled almost two million patient visits, provided services for 400,000 occupational health customers, performed nearly 15,000 elective surgeries and managed approximately 5,500 care beds. In 2009, the company recorded sales of SEK 7.3 billion and EBITA of SEK 624 million.
Investment Overview
3i first invested in the €207m Buyout of Carema in July 2005. We saw great potential for the business to become a Nordic market leader and put in place a buy-and-build strategy. We initially financed and advised on the €160m acquisition of Finnish business Mehiläinen, a complementary business to Carema, and brought them together under the newly formed Ambea Group.
By leveraging the local strengths of the individual brands, the group provided a platform for continuous balanced growth, based on a key strategy to be the provider of choice in offering high quality healthcare services. During our ownership, we worked closely with the management to acquire and integrate more than 24 businesses, allowing Ambea to become one of the largest European healthcare providers. Net sales and EBITA grew significantly during our five year holding period, averaging 15% (sales) and 31% (EBITA) per year from 2004 to 2009.
Through our European-wide Business Leaders Network, we introduced Non-executive Directors, Peter Weiderman the founder of Carema, Claire Hollingsworth a leading industry figure and former managing director at BUPA, and other highly relevant non-executive directors.
In February 2010 we sold our stake in Ambea to the private equity house, Triton, for approximately €850m, on a cash and debt free basis.
