Sale would include the parent company according to Spanish news media and industry sources
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European healthcare conglomerate Fresenius Helios is looking to sell its major fertility holding, the Eugin Group, according to a European media outlet and industry sources.
Fresenius, which is based in Germany, acquired Eugin in late 2020 for about $520 million.
“Eugin and Fresenius Helios are an excellent fit. Eugin is highly profitable and holds excellent positions in attractive country markets,” then Fresenius CEO Stephan Sturm said at the time.
Founded in 1994, the Barcelona-based Eugin is a massive global provider of fertility services. It operates 69 clinics in 11 countries on three continents and performs 45,000 cycles a year. Its footprint includes Spain, Italy, Latvia, Sweden, Colombia and Brazil. It is also a major player in the U.S. and Canada, where Eugin owns Boston IVF, Ohio Reproductive Medicine and TRIO. That latter is one of the largest fertility providers in Canada.
A potential sale of Eugin was first reported by the Spanish publication PlantaDoce. The news outlet reported that Fresenius is under pressure to divest by Elliott Investment Management, which obtained a significant stake in the conglomerate last fall and is apparently unhappy with its financial performance in recent months. Fresenius’ stock price is down about 6% from a year ago, although it has risen about 25% since Elliott bought shares in the company.
Strurm departed as CEO just before Elliott bought its stake in Fresenius. His replacement, Michael Sen, spoke of the company needing a “reset” just weeks after taking over.
“We have embarked on a top-to-bottom review of every business activity, looking at the entire corporate portfolio,” Sen said at the time.
Fresenius is also reportedly shopping its hospitals in Colombia and Peru, according to the Colombian news outlet El Pais. The holdings are part of Fresenius’ Quirónsalud Group affiliate, which also owns hospitals in Spain.
Fresenius declined to comment about a sale of Eugin. “Please understand that as a matter of principle we do not comment on market speculation or rumors,” said company spokesperson Steffen Rinas in an email. That was the exact response Rinas gave to El Pais about the potential Quirónsalud sale.
However, along with the coverage in the Spanish media, two sources have confirmed with Inside Reproductive Health that they’ve been told that Eugin is on the market.
“I’ve heard they’re for sale, but I don't know who is the likely buyer,” said Richard Groberg, who regularly advises businesses in the fertility sector on mergers and acquisitions.
Walt Conrad, vice president of marketing for Pinnacle Fertility, an IVF platform that has been active in dealmaking as of late, observed in an email earlier this month that he did hear of Eugin being on the market, but that he was not aware of Pinnacle pursuing a deal “at this time.”
Who might actually bid on Eugin is a major question among industry observers. Its size and geographical breadth may be hard for a potential acquirer to swallow whole.
“Eugin is a large network of IVF centers in diverse markets around the world, and finding an existing player in the space that can offer advantages to all of their markets may be very hard to do,” said Robert Goodman, vice president in charge of healthcare for New York City-based MidCap Advisors. “There are several fertility platforms that may have the ability to absorb them, but it will be a significant undertaking.”
Goodman, who was not aware Eugin was for sale, speculated about a list of potential buyers. They include Carefertility, which operates 23 clinics in England and Ireland; Inception Fertility, which includes The Prelude Network, which operates more than 80 clinics in the U.S.; and US Fertility, which acquired Ovation Fertility last month.
Goodman noted that all those companies have either solid financial backing or have recently expanded into new markets.
“The backers and senior management teams of these platforms…could be interested if the opportunity is made attractive enough,” he said.
The themes reported in this publication are those of the news. They do not reflect the views of Inside Reproductive Health, nor of the Advertiser
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