Labco secures 730 mln euros in fresh funding

FRANKFURT, July 23 (Reuters) - Pan-European medical diagnostics network Labco has secured almost 730 million euros ($1.16 billion) in funding to accelerate its European expansion, raising part of the money by a capital increase, it said.

A consortium of institutional investors led by 3i (III.L) would provide 200 million euros in equity, while healthcare professionals and Labco managers would add another 58 million, it said in a statement on Wednesday.

Labco said it would raise a significant part of this equity by issuing new shares.

It secured a further 420 million euros of senior and mezzanine debt with a possible extension of 50 million.

"I am ... confident that this financing round will open new growth opportunities in view of the current consolidation of the European diagnostics market," Chief Executive Eric Souetre said.

Founded in France in 2003, Labco is a medical diagnostics group based on a pan-European network of local and regional clinical laboratories. The network has 4,000 staff in more than 250 laboratories across six countries.

The company offers a portfolio of over 2,500 clinical tests and treats more than 8 million patients a year.

Labco said it wanted to focus on reinforcing its presence in Germany as well as to strengthen it positions in the Iberian peninsula and France. It also plans to expand in the Benelux countries and Italy and enter new markets.

Labco generated 220 million euros in sales in 2007 and plans to more than double in size by the end of the year. (Reporting by Cornelia Krause, editing by Will Waterman)