Private equity firm Permira sells Italy’s Althea to F2i, DWS

MILAN (Reuters) -Private equity firm Permira said on Wednesday it had sold Italian healthcare technology company Althea in a deal which a source with knowledge of the matter said put an enterprise value on the group at “well above” 1 billion euros ($1.06 billion).

Permira sold Althea to a consortium including Italian infrastructure fund F2i and infrastructure investment manager DWS Infrastructure.

Althea’s customers include over 2,700 healthcare facilities in 18 countries, with more than 3,000 employees handling 1.4 million medical devices, Permira said in a statement.

F2i acquired Althea’s assets in Italy and in 14 other countries, apart from those in the UK and Ireland that were bought by DWS, F2i said in a separate statement.

The deal is expected to close in the third quarter.

Permira was advised by Rothschild & Co, EY, Giliberti and Triscornia e Associati. F2i and DWS were assisted by Mediobanca, PwC and Clifford Chance.

($1 = 0.9466 euros)

(Reporting by Cristina CarlevaroEditing by Bernadette Baum)