• Novo increases equity stake in SYNLAB to approximately 20% through a subscription to new shares

SYNLAB Limited ("SYNLAB" or "the Group"), a European market leader for laboratory diagnostics, and Novo A/S ("Novo"), the holding company for the Novo Group and fully owned subsidiary of the Novo Nordisk Foundation, today jointly announce that Novo has agreed to increase its equity stake in the Group through a €250m subscription to new shares. Following the closing of the transaction which is scheduled to take place today, Novo will own a stake of approximately 20% of the equity of SYNLAB.

Following the closing of the transaction, Cinven will remain the majority shareholder of SYNLAB. Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (OTPP) will retain its current stake in the Group.

The proceeds of Novo's investment will be fully available to SYNLAB on closing and will be used to fund capital investment projects and to support the proven consolidation strategy. In 2016, SYNLAB completed a total of 34 successful bolt-on acquisitions of laboratories of different sizes in various geographical locations.

Commenting on SYNLAB and Novo, Bartl Wimmer, CEO of SYNLAB, said: "I am very pleased that Novo has decided to increase its shareholding in SYNLAB. Their involvement as an investor has proved to be very fruitful. In addition to its deep healthcare sector expertise, Novo supports our growth trajectory through significant financial backing. The renewed investment demonstrates the high level of trust Novo puts into SYNLAB's future development and our ability to grow the business."

Commenting on the investment in SYNLAB, Novo's Large Investment responsible Michael Shalmi said: "Shortly after we converted our first investment in SYNLAB into equity, we have decided to increase our shareholding further as we are very confident about the prospects for this investment. SYNLAB is one of Europe's leading laboratory services providers and is one of our benchmark investments in market leading, profitable life-science companies."