Cerba HealthCare will take control of Lancet Laboratories after announcing a joint venture to “strengthen provision of effective, evidence-based healthcare across Africa”.
Lancet Laboratories, a medical lab services provider with its headquarters in South Africa, has a significant presence in Kenya and other 14 countries. The financial detail of the JV deal has not been revealed.
The firm has over 1,400 employees serving 1.3 million patients a year, and generated Ksh5 billion in turnover last year.
“We are delighted to partner with Cerba HealthCare and are looking forward to expanding our efforts together and working to improve the health of African citizens,” Dr Peter Cole, CEO of Lancet Laboratories commented.
In Kenya, it runs under the name Pathologists Lancet Kenya and operates 38 labs and service points across the country, with Lancet Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda as PLK’s subsidiaries.
Competition Authority of Kenya approved the deal in December 2018 as “the transaction met the threshold for exclusion specified in Mergers Threshold Guidelines under the CAK Act”.
“The entry of Cerba Healthcare from Europe with their extensive experience of operating as an international corporate business brings on board new expected efficiencies, which together with their significant financial muscle, will enhance our operations, strengthen our reach and diversify our service offering across the region,” said Lancet Group of Laboratories in East Africa chief executive Dr Ahmed Kalebi.
The new JV deal will be known as Cerba Lancet Africa, and will cover operations in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Botswana, Ghana, Mozambique, Nigeria, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The South African operations will not be part of the deal.
The move by Cerba HealthCare is part of the firm’s strategy to make significant forays across Africa, including the French-speaking countries that Lancet Laboratories did not have presence.
“Our common goal is to develop medical services in regions where we are already present and to expand into other countries,” said Cerba healthCare’s deputy chief executive Jérôme Thill.
Cerba HealthCare has its headquarters in Paris, where it operates a network of laboratories and technical facilities across Europe – mainly in france, Belgium, Luxembourg and Italy – that serve more than 50 countries in Europe, Africa and Middle East.
