Boosting healthcare by creating Poland’s #1 clinical laboratories chain
MidEuropa’s partnership with Diagnostyka exemplifies its successful strategy of investing in and growing healthcare companies in Central Europe to improve patient outcomes. Its listing in February 2025 marked one of the largest IPOs on the Warsaw Stock Exchange in the last five years and raised gross proceeds of just over €400 million for MidEuropa’s investors, with the company’s market capitalisation reaching over €1 billion in the first hours of trading.
MidEuropa has been creating national champions in private healthcare for over two decades, significantly enhancing the quality and accessibility of medical services in Central Europe. Since it was set up 25 years ago, MidEuropa has created several healthcare platforms throughout the region, supporting each through expert organic growth and select acquisitions to create leaders of scale.
We have a rich healthcare experience which helps us to devise investment theses, and combining this with over 25 years of private equity investing helps us recognise attractive consolidation opportunities in the sector,” explains Matthew Strassberg, Partner and Head of Healthcare at MidEuropa.
The build-up of Diagnostyka, Warsaw’s latest healthcare listing (link), shows how the right private equity backer can accelerate growth in businesses. The firm offers services including laboratory diagnostics, genetic testing, pathomorphology, and diagnostic imaging services, and under MidEuropa’s stewardship, increased its revenues over 15x. It debuted on the Warsaw Stock Exchange on February 7, 2025, pricing at the top of the range and with its closing price on the listing day putting Diagnostyka’s market capitalisation at over €1 billion. This made it the second-largest publicly listed healthcare services provider in Central Europe and among the top seven largest listed sector players in Europe.
Diagnostyka was founded by its CEO together with two co-founders 27 years ago and has enjoyed impressive and sustained growth throughout its history. Today, the business operates a network of over 1,100 owned blood collection points and 156 diagnostic laboratories conducting over 140 million tests annually. This scale helped revenues reach PLN 1.5 billion ($358.8 million) in the first nine months of 2024 and impressive margins of 26.5%.
Such success takes time to get right, with MidEuropa investing back in 2011 for a minority stake (just under 50% at exit). Recognising the potential for consolidation in the fragmented diagnostics market, MidEuropa went on to support Diagnostyka’s expansion through 128 follow-on acquisitions and significant greenfield developments, ultimately establishing it as the national leader in laboratory diagnostics.
“Early on in our investment we served as a catalyst for the acceleration of Diagnostyka’s transformation into the clear market leader in the Polish diagnostic healthcare services,” Matthew recalls.
The partnership was one of mutual respect, with MidEuropa making itself available as an experienced partner in growing healthcare businesses, while allowing the business space to steer its journey.
Their investment, which lasted nearly half of our company’s history, was transformational. As a management team we have grown and evolved with our business,” according to CEO and co-Founder Dr Jakub Swadzba.
How Diagnostyka improves patient outcomes
Diagnostyka’s growth sees it now serving 20 million patients, helping to significantly enhance patient outcomes. Diagnostyka’s rapid turnaround time and reliability of results on over 4,000 different tests and with 19 diagnostic imaging facilities has been a game-changer for people in Poland.
Its market-leading position and status as an independent provider significantly increases the comfort of the referring physicians, who see Diagnostyka as a partner supporting their activities and not a competitor,” says Pawel Malicki, Partner at MidEuropa and Co-Head of the Healthcare sector.
How we found the opportunity
MidEuropa’s deep experience in the healthcare sector enabled it to identify patient diagnostics as a promising, long-term growth sub-sector within healthcare services. The firm recognised that the Polish population was underserved by the public system, with growing demand for testing as part of preventive medicine. Expectations of an increasingly affluent and ageing population were also driving growth in private healthcare services in Poland.
How we grew the business
Following its first significant acquisition of Fryda Laboratories shortly after its 2011 partnership with MidEuropa, Diagnostyka rapidly developed the expertise and reputation for successfully acquiring and integrating a number of targets, expanding geographic coverage as well as its service offering portfolio.
MidEuropa’s investment gave tailwinds to Diagnostyka, empowering it to source, analyse, and finance new add-on targets, ultimately propelling Diagnostyka into the most credible institutional buyer in the clinical laboratory market in Poland. Overall, 128 acquisitions were successfully completed during the partnership.
To make the most of these, post-acquisition integration was a key pillar of Diagnostyka’s strategy. A major draw of the companies it acquires is their in-house laboratory expertise, and Diagnostyka prioritises attracting and retaining this talent throughout the integration process. New businesses were incorporated into its proprietary IT system to bring swift operational alignment with the broader network and into its nationwide logistics network, enabling expansion of the scope of tests offered. Additionally, Diagnostyka began expanding into new business lines with its first diagnostic imaging acquisition in 2023.
Diagnostyka continuously optimised its laboratory footprint to enhance efficiency. It operates two central laboratories across Poland, designed for high-volume, cost-effective processing, while local labs remain in place to handle urgent, on-site tests. In 2021, MidEuropa supported the company to open a state-of-the-art facility in Warsaw, spanning over 10,000 square metres and capable of processing up to 250,000 tests daily – one of the largest and most advanced clinical laboratories in Europe. It was part of a substantial investment over the years, with PLN 402m invested between 2021 and 2024 on operational infrastructure, logistics, and technology, and another PLN 198m on M&A in that period.
A bright future
The Polish diagnostic market is attractive and growing,” says Jakub. “It is supported by favourable trends, including rising disposable income, lower testing prices than in other European countries, and increasing health awareness. It is also stimulated by the need to respond to the challenge of an ageing population. As a result, we see great opportunities for the company to grow and help further consolidate the market.”
Its nearly 14-year partnership with MidEuropa helped Diagnostyka achieve impressive expansion and market-leading margins, despite offering some of the most competitive prices in Europe. This was predicated on a sharp focus on revenue growth, medical quality, and cost efficiency, and its strong business model and proven growth track record will continue to drive its success.