Private equity tipped to grab Crescent’s ACL

Private equity firms are expected to be among the likely buyers for Australian Clinical Labs, say sources, after its owner, Crescent Capital, was said to have made earlier efforts to break up the business and sell it to listed groups.

DataRoom has learned that Crescent was working on a plan to sell part of the portfolio to Healius and the remainder to Sonic Healthcare. However, it is understood that sale to the groups would not have got past the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission.

Crescent is now working with Bank of America to find a buyer for the portfolio, which some estimate could be worth up to $300m.

ACL, the third-largest pathology player in the Australian market, comprises Healthscope’s former pathology assets, which were purchased five years ago for $105m. It also includes the operations formerly owned by St John of God and is set to sell for a price worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Some believe St John of God could remain a shareholder and would be eager to secure funds from a transaction.

Crescent’s healthcare assets include services that carry out some National Disability Insurance Scheme contracts and also after hours doctors’ services so it will be interesting to see if those assets are part of the opportunity.

Pathology operations across the healthcare industry are returning to normal after volumes were down by as much as 30 per cent amid the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The sale by Crescent follows the acquisition by the private equity fund of PRP Diagnostic Imaging.