Buyout group Cinven to buy France's Labco for 1.2 billion euros - source

By Freya Berry

(Reuters) - European private equity firm Cinven has agreed to buy French medical diagnostics provider Labco SA for 1.2 billion euros ($1.31 billion), a person familiar with the deal told Reuters.

The deal could be announced as soon as Thursday, the person said.

A buyout deal for Labco comes two weeks after the company abandoned plans for a 545 million euro initial public offering on Euronext Paris, citing "volatility across global financial markets."

Cinven and Labco could not be reached immediately for comment.

Labco registered net sales of 650 million euros for 2014, with earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation at 131 million euros and EBITDA margin at about 20 percent, according to the person familiar with the matter.

 

The Financial Times first reported the deal.

(Reporting by Freya Berry; Writing by Ankush Sharma in Bengaluru; Editing by Leslie Adler)