Blackstone-Backed Fund Health Bet Defies Slump: Corporate Brazil

Bloomberg BusinessWeek May 10 2013
Patria Investimentos SA, the private-equity fund partially owned by Blackstone Group LP (BX), and Kinea Investimentos Ltda are buying medical-diagnostic providers, betting a slowdown at insurers that pay for tests is temporary.
Kinea invested 70 million reais ($34.6 million) in Grupo Delfin, owner of six diagnostic centers in Brazil’s Northeast, and expects to triple the company’s size in four years, said Cristiano Lauretti, a partner and head of private equity. Alliar, the company created by Patria after acquiring stakes in 50 diagnostic units since 2011, is growing at a rate of 50 percent a year, Chief Executive Officer Fernando Terni said.
“It’s a segment that has differentiated growth possibilities, more accelerated than in health in general,” Terni said in an interview. “The sector is still very fragmented and therefore opportunities for consolidation exist.”
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