Cinven buys Labco at lower end of recent IPO value range

Private equity group Cinven has agreed to acquire Labco, the pan-European medical group part-owned by FTSE 100 investment group 3i.

The deal values Labco at €1.2bn including its debts, towards the bottom end of valuations for the French company's recently shelved flotation.

Labco, which runs clinical diagnostics laboratories around Europe, abandoned plans for a Paris flotation due to its concerns about market volatility.

3i has invested €130m in Labco and syndicated €15m since it first bought a stake in 2008, since when the medical group has made more than 94 acquisitions as part of a buy-and-build strategy.