Novo A/S exercises its option for an equity stake in SYNLAB of more than 10%

Munich / Hellerup, 15 December 2016 – SYNLAB Limited (“SYNLAB” or “the Group”) and Novo A/S (“Novo”), the holding company for the Novo Group, today jointly announce that Novo has exercised its option to acquire a stake in the Group for more than 10% of the equity. Cinven remains the majority holder.

The closing of the transaction is scheduled to take place on 15 December 2016.

By exercising its option, Novo emphasizes its ongoing commitment as a strategic investor to facilitate SYNLAB’s expansion and development through significant financial backing for the Group. SYNLAB, established in 1998, is the European market leader for laboratory diagnostics. SYNLAB is growing organically by providing the highest-quality services in the industry. At the same time, the Group is pursuing a strategy of consolidating the laboratory diagnostics market and today is operating in more than 30 countries with total revenue of circa €1.6 billion.

Commenting on the decision of Novo, Bartl Wimmer, CEO of SYNLAB, said:
“Novo’s investment reflects its high level of confidence in SYNLAB’s robust performance, which we have demonstrated both since it acquired its share option in February this year and before that. The investment can also be regarded as a thorough evaluation of our strong growth story. I am looking forward to a fruitful relationship and mutual benefit for both companies.”

Commenting on the investment in SYNLAB, Novo’s Large Investment responsible Michael Shalmi, said:
“We have closely followed the impressive development of SYNLAB throughout 2016, and we are very optimistic that SYNLAB will continue its positive trend in the future. With the exercise of the share option, we extend our commitment to SYNLAB as an important company in our portfolio, which is being built through investing in market leading, profitable life-science companies with favourable growth potential.”

Forward-looking information is subject to risk and uncertainty

This press release may include certain “forward-looking” statements. Forward-looking statements include all statements that are not historical facts and can be identified by the use of forward-looking terms such as the words “believes”, “expects”, “may”, “will”, “would”, “should”, “seeks”, “pro forma”, “anticipates”, “intends”, “plans” and “estimates” or the negative of any thereof or other variations thereof or comparable terms or by discussions of strategy or intentions. These statements are not guarantees of future actions or performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions as to future events that may not prove to be accurate. Actual actions or results may differ materially from what is expressed or forecasted in these forward-looking statements. As a result, these statements speak only as of the date they were made, and SYNLAB undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

About the SYNLAB Group

• The SYNLAB Group is the leading laboratory services provider in Europe. SYNLAB offers a full range of innovative and reliable medical diagnostics for patients, practising doctors, clinics and the pharmaceutical industry.

• Providing the leading level of service within the industry, SYNLAB is the partner of choice for healthcare professionals. SYNLAB’s services also encompass veterinary and environmental laboratory analysis.

• SYNLAB operates in more than 30 countries across four continents and holds leading positions in most markets. Over 13,000 employees contribute every day to the Group’s success across different geographies. SYNLAB carries out 450 million laboratory tests per year, achieving sales revenue of circa €1.6 billion.

Read more at www.synlab.com

About Novo A/S

• Novo A/S is a private limited liability company wholly owned by the Novo Nordisk Foundation.

• Novo A/S is the holding company in the Novo Group and responsible for managing the Foundation’s assets.

Besides being the major shareholder in the Novo Group companies, Novo A/S provides seed and venture capital to development-stage companies, takes significant ownership positions in well-established companies within the life sciences and manages a broad portfolio of financial assets.