Bianalisi is a leading platform in the sector of laboratory diagnostics, outpatient services and diagnostic imaging in Italy. Founded in 1968 and based in Carate Brianza, the company was acquired in 2000 by the entrepreneur Giuliano Caslini who, over the last twenty years, has led a significant expansion plan in Italy, mainly through acquisitions, aimed at positioning Bianalisi among the leading players of the healthcare sector in Italy.

With more than 260 laboratories and over 50 outpatient clinics, Bianalisi receives almost 13,000 patients every day to its facilities spread across 9 Italian regions. More than 50,000 laboratory tests and over 2,000 specialist medical examinations are carried out daily by over 600 doctors in Bianalisi’s centres. In 2020 Bianalisi carried out over 16 million laboratory tests. Bianalisi also offers advanced diagnostic imaging services using the latest generation scanning equipment (CT and MRI). Its widespread presence in its regions, combined with a high quality and broad service offering, make Bianalisi a point of reference for its patients.

The partnership agreement envisages the entry of Charme Capital Partners SGR S.p.A. (pan-European private equity firm with a highly entrepreneurial approach and offices in Milan, London and Madrid), through the newly established Charme IV fund, in the Bianalisi shareholding structure with a majority stake and in total continuation with the project led by the founder Giuliano Caslini. The growth strategy for the next few years will be based on the further delivery of the consolidation plan in Italy, the most fragmented diagnostics market in Europe, together with the additional expansion of the services currently offered (also through the adoption of cutting-edge solutions in preventive genetic diagnostics and telemedicine) and further growth in corporate, outsourcing and insurance services.

Giuliano Caslini will continue to hold the role of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, ensuring full entrepreneurial and management continuity. Charme will contribute to Bianalisi's development plan thanks to its consolidated experience in supporting the growth of exceptional companies in partnership with their respective founders. The recent acquisitions of Igenomix and Veritas, which have respectively become world leaders in reproductive genetic diagnostics and in genome sequencing thanks to the industrial plans set up and supported by Charme, allowed the development of an important track record and know how in the healthcare sector that Charme will make available to Bianalisi. Closing is expected by the end of August and is subject to standard conditions for transactions of this nature.

Matteo di Montezemolo, CEO of the Charme Funds, commented: 

"It is with great pleasure that we announce today the establishment of Charme IV with the first investment in Italy in an Italian excellence such as Bianalisi in partnership with its founder, Giuliano Caslini confirming, once again, the strong entrepreneurial culture of the Charme Funds. Bianalisi represents a great investment opportunity for the new Charme IV fund in a leading company in its sector, which operates with an effective platform for the consolidation of the analysis and diagnostics laboratories market in Italy. We strongly appreciated Bianalisi's growth path, inspired by Giuliano Caslini's vision and, consistently with all the previous investments of the Charme Funds, we will also bring our active contribution to Bianalisi to continue on this path in the coming years. These are the distinctive elements that have always characterized the investment strategy of the Charme Funds and which are the basis of the strategic and operational support that we will give to Giuliano Caslini and Bianalisi to implement the ambitious development plan that we have shared".

Tommaso Beolchini, Founding Partner of Charme, commented:

"Charme IV's investment in Bianalisi is totally consistent with the Charme Funds strategy of investing, in partnership with their respective founders, in excellent entrepreneurial companies with strong growth potential. The leadership and vision of Giuliano Caslini in Bianalisi are, in total continuity, the pillars of the significant organic and M&A growth envisaged in Bianalisi's new strategic plan".

Giuliano Caslini commented: 

"The partnership established with Charme represents a new relevant page in Bianalisi’s history and is the beginning of a new chapter which, in full continuation, will lead the Bianalisi platform to grow and further strengthen to catch the significant opportunities for business development in the laboratory and diagnostics sector. I appreciated the strong business culture of Charme demonstrated in more than 15 years of activity by supporting the growth of important Italian companies, the deep respect for the history and entrepreneurial values of Bianalisi and also its consolidated network, fundamental factors that have inspired our partnership. Charme represents in fact the ideal partner to better manage the next phase of development and the consolidation of the market foreseen for the next few years, at the base of Bianalisi's future success”

The Charme Funds

The Charme Funds have been established in 2003 by Luca and Matteo di Montezemolo and are backed by a unique combination of institutional and entrepreneurial investors. Total commitments raised since inception have been in excess of €1.5 billion. The Charme Funds develop long-term industrial investments in companies with a strong potential for growth and international development.

Charme III, with total commitments of €650 million, has been launched between 2015 and 2016 with a pan-European investment focus, particularly on Italy, the United Kingdom and Spain. Charme III is investing in companies with high potential for international growth whose value ranges between €100 million and €500 million. In these companies, Charme III acts as a strategic partner for those entrepreneurial families and managerial teams who intend to benefit from new development opportunities, both through organic growth and structured M&A investments, in addition to capital structure strengthening aimed at consolidating their leadership.

The main investments realized by the funds Charme I and II include: in luxury goods, Poltrona Frau Group (the world leader in high-end design furniture created via the acquisitions of Poltrona Frau, Cassina and Cappellini); in technology, Octo Telematics (world leader in insurance telematics) and in med-tech, Bellco (leading provider of blood purification devices).

Charme III has completed six majority investments. Specifically, three investments in Italy via ATOP (one of the leading companies worldwide in the field of industrial automation for the production of electric motors in the automotive and e-mobility sector), Fiocchi (one of the leading companies worldwide in the outdoor shooting sports) and OCS (a leading company in the fintech software sector), two investments in Spain via Igenomix (world leader in reproductive genetic diagnostics) and Valtecnic/Ibertasa (a leading Spanish market player in the field of real estate services) and one investment in the United Kingdom via Witherslack (among the UK market leaders in the education sector for students with special educational needs, where the UK is historically one of the world leaders for know-how and specialized expertise).

Charme Capital Partners SGR has announced the first closing of its fourth fund, Charme IV, with €500 million of commitments, with continued strong support from Charme III investors, given the strong performance delivered to date (top quartile of European private equity, source: Preqin). The final target for Charme IV has been set at €800 million. Bianalisi represents the first investment of Charme IV in Italy.