German laboratory group Amedes nearing sale, Omers Infra seen in lead -sources

By Arno Schuetze

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German laboratory group Amedes is nearing a sale and Canada's Omers Infrastructure is seen in the lead to buy the firm whose business has boomed in the COVID-19 pandemic, people close to the matter said.

Final bids are due on Wednesday and European investor Groupe Bruxelles Lambert is also expected to submit an offer, they said, adding that a decision on the buyer was expected in August.

Omers and GBL declined to comment, while Antin was not available for comment.

Amedes' majority owner, French infrastructure investor Antin, put the company up for sale earlier this year. It bought the firm in 2015 from buyout group General Atlantic at a valuation of about 800 million euros.

Amedes has annual core earnings of more than 100 million euros and could be valued at 12-14 times that or 1.2-1.4 billion euros in a potential deal, sources close to the matter have said in the past.

Rivals such as Synlab, Sonic, Quest Diagnostics and LabCorp trade at 7-9 times their expected core earnings.

Amedes operates laboratories at 90 sites in Germany, Belgium, Austria and Dubai, employing about 4,000 staff and treating 450,000 patients a year.

The company processes so-called PCR tests for the coronavirus as well a wide variety of medical tests for patients, doctors and hospitals, including oncological, genetic, microbiological and pathological tests.

It was founded in 1987 and has since grown through a string of acquisitions.

($1 = 0.8469 euros)

(Reporting by Arno Schuetze; editing by Jason Neely)