Jun 18, 2021

Jun 18 2021, 7:42 PM June 18 2021, 6:44 PM June 18 2021, 7:42 PM (Bloomberg) -- Antin Infrastructure Partners is considering a sale of French private hospital provider Almaviva Sante amid increasing consolidation in the health-care services industry, according to people familiar with the matter. (Bloomberg) -- Antin Infrastructure Partners is considering a sale of French private hospital provider Almaviva Sante amid increasing consolidation in the health-care services industry, according to people familiar with the matter. Antin is working with advisers to help gauge interest in the business, which could be valued at more than 1 billion euros ($1.2 billion), the people said, asking not to be identified discussing confidential information. A sale could draw interest from other private equity firms and hospital companies, one of the people said. Deliberations are in the early stages, and there’s no certainty Antin will decide to proceed with a sale of the company, according to the people. A representative for Antin declined to comment, while a spokesperson for Almaviva couldn’t immediately be reached for comment. Founded in 2007, Almaviva runs 41 private centers with 4,000 beds, including in the south and Ile-de-France regions and on Corsica. Antin bought a majority stake in the company in 2017 for an undisclosed amount. French hospital chains have been consolidating as operators seek to build up capacity. Last year, CVC Capital Partners agreed to sell a major stake in Elsan to KKR & Co. and Ardian SAS in a deal that valued the French clinic chain at about $4 billion including debt. Ardian later entered exclusive talks to buy French medical laboratories firm Inovie Group. The broader health-care sector has proved to be a rich hunting ground for private equity buyers during the pandemic. They’ve spent $137 billion on health-care companies in the last 12 months, a more than threefold increase on the previous period, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Earlier in June, a consortium comprising Blackstone Group Inc., Carlyle Group Inc. and Hellman & Friedman agreed one of the largest leveraged buyouts of all time with a $30 billion-plus deal to buy medical supply company Medline Industries Inc. ©2021 Bloomberg L.P.