TSL Express Daily News

Affidea, the leading European provider of diagnostic imaging, outpatient and cancer care services announces the successful completion of a 150 million EUR credit facility. This recent credit line will further support the company's strategy for growth.

Affidea (www.affidea.com) has accelerated its growth strategy throughout the year, with a number of significant acquisitions. In the last eight months, Affidea has expanded its presence in 5 countries, starting from December 2020, when Affidea expanded in Croatia with the acquisition of Sveti Rok outpatient provider and continuing with Spain in January 2021, when the company added the nuclear medicine provider Gamma Clinica. In March 2021, Affidea expanded in the UK with the addition of the renowned orthopaedic Fortius Group and in Northern Ireland with the acquisition of Orthoderm. The most recent expansion was across Italy, in June 2021, when Affidea announced the acquisition of the CDC Group, making the company the leading outpatient provider in the Piedmont region, doubling its size to 54 centres across the country. This expansion confirms Affidea's leadership in Europe as a premier outpatient, diagnostic imaging, and cancer care provider.

Moreover, as a further sign of the company's resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic and sustainable performance since the beginning of 2021, Moody's had recently upgraded the company's rating outlook to stable from negative.

Affidea's rating outlook is supported by its position as the largest provider of advanced diagnostic imaging services in Europe, with leading positions in its main markets, a high level of geographic diversification, favourable demand for Affidea's services and its ambition to continue the consolidation of the European diagnostic imaging industry while expanding its business model to outpatient services.

Giuseppe Recchi, Affidea CEO, stated: "Affidea's management team is pleased with the company's continued strong performance, which exceeds the expectations of our business plan. We have been constantly growing, with a strong and focused management approach to keep our financing leverage below the industry's standards while executing double digit growth with a solid industrial and financial discipline. I am very proud to see the investors supporting Affidea's strong business model and growth strategy in developing the most in-demand polidiagnostic centers where high quality integrated diagnostic imaging and outpatient services are performed. It is a successful business model which is continually fostered by increased economies of scale across 15 countries. With continued strong support from our shareholder, this achievement provides us with the flexibility to accelerate our ambitious growth plans and continue offering value to our more than 10 million patients that are visiting our 308 centers across Europe every year."

Marcus Kaeller, Affidea CFO, added: "This new credit line puts us in an excellent position to ensure our capital structure is well positioned to take advantage of the investment opportunities we see across our markets. The company's rating outlook reflects the confidence in the company's resilience and our initiatives to strenghten cash flow and reduce leverage over the next 12-18 months. Driving synergies and realising platform benefits are core focus areas of the management team and are underpinned by robust financial disciplines to support our accelerating growth strategy."

The new credit facility was jointly arranged by Unicredit and Goldman Sachs.

About Affidea Group

Affidea (www.affidea.com) is the leading European provider of diagnostic imaging, outpatient and cancer care services, operating in 308 centers in 15 countries in Europe. The Affidea Group works with almost 11000 professionals and performs over 15 million diagnostic tests every year. Affidea is the only healthcare provider that is part of the IBM Watson Imaging Board and also of the Microsoft Cloud. Thanks to its patient safety record, Affidea is the most awarded diagnostic imaging provider in Europe by the European Society of Radiology - over 50% of all centers assigned on the Eurosafe Star Wall belong to Affidea. Affidea is owned by interests associated with the Bertarelli family which are advised by their business enterprise, Waypoint Capital.