Waterland-backed ATOS adds-on Main Klinik

Waterland Private Equity-backed ATOS added-on Main Klinik from previous owner Georg Kovacs. ATOS is an orthopedic medicine provider in Germany. Waterland acquired ATOS in 2016, which now has a total of nine inpatient clinics, seven outpatient facilities and the Munich-based holding company.

Press Release

ATOS, a portfolio company of the private equity investment group Waterland Private Equity and one of the leading networks of orthopedic medicine providers in Germany, acquires Main Klinik, based in Frankfurt, from its previous owner Prof. Dr. Georg Kovacs, who will remain the clinic’s chief physician. With the acquisition, ATOS strengthens its position in the market for elective orthopedic treatments and secures a first foothold in the city of Frankfurt am Main. Purchase price and further financial details of the transaction will not be disclosed.

Each year, Main Klinik, based in the heart of Frankfurt am Main, treats almost 12,000 patients and performs 2,000 surgeries. The clinic has two operating theaters with excellent technical equipment, a ward with multiple single-bed rooms, several specialist and rehabilitation practices. The clinic, which was founded in 2002 by Prof. Dr. Georg Kovacs and Dr. Ulrich Vogel, offers a full range of invasive and conservative orthopedic treatments as well as physical rehabilitative medicine and pain therapy. Its focus on elective orthopedic treatments fits perfectly into the ATOS service portfolio. The clinic group has already identified additional surgeons wishing to join Main Klinik as attending physicians to complement the existing team. Simultaneously, the clinic will be integrated into the ATOS network and service portfolio.

Through the acquisition, ATOS is advancing its long-term plan of establishing a presence in the Rhine-Main metropolitan area. In this area, ATOS hopes to develop further inpatient capacities in its clinics and add further outpatient practices to the group. Both doctors and patients, who become part of this network, will benefit from a broad range of services and treatments. Doctors can offer their highly specialized medical skills to a larger catchment area, offering patients a highly integrated therapy concept, thanks to the close integration of inpatient and outpatient services.

ATOS Group, which now counts a total of nine inpatient clinics, seven outpatient facilities and the Munich-based holding company, is one of the leading networks for state-of-the-art orthopedic medicine in Germany. The ATOS group is home to the most FOCUS awards in the field of orthopedics in Germany under one roof. Since the founding of the first ATOS clinic in Heidelberg in 1991, eight more clinics have joined the group. Its real growth story started in 2016, when Waterland acquired the clinic chain and proceeded to both professionalize its expansion and increase the number of clinics by six in the span of four years. Today, the CEO Martin von Hummel leads the clinic network with a staff of about 900 people, of which approximately 170 are practitioners, who perform over 20,700 surgeries per year.

“The demand for orthopedic surgery is experiencing continuous growth for demographic reasons. In this market environment, ATOS has positioned itself superbly with a service portfolio focused on cutting-edge medicine, with a particular focus on the urban regions. Main Klinik is now the ATOS spearhead in Frankfurt and already operates with a business model very similar to that of ATOS. This generates a great potential for synergies between both the clinics in the metropolitan area as well as for the entire clinic group throughout Germany”, says Dr. Carsten Rahlfs, Managing Partner at Waterland.

“Our focus is on providing first class medicine to our patients. Our clinics already form a strong network in the field of cutting-edge orthopedic medicine, given that 36 of our medical professionals represented are listed in the FOCUS top rankings”, says Martin von Hummel, CEO of ATOS. “The integration of Main Klinik is taking place seamlessly during ongoing operations. We are very pleased to welcome the new Frankfurt-based addition to our network and see the potential for growth in both the Main Klinik and the wider Frankfurt region. For example, one may rent additional floor space in the current Main Klinik building and to establish our own diagnostics and radiology center. At the same time, we are actively developing an additional facility in Wiesbaden near Frankfurt am Main and identifying other additions to our network in the region.”

The independent private equity investment group Waterland Private Equity has extensive experience in the healthcare sector. In addition to ATOS, the leading rehabilitation clinic group MEDIAN, the physiotherapy services provider ATHERA, the elderly care provider Schönes Leben and Hansefit, a leading network of company sports and fitness providers, comprise Waterland’s portfolio in this sector.

About Waterland
Waterland is an independent private equity investment group that supports businesses in realizing their growth ambitions. With substantial financial resources and industry expertise, Waterland enables its portfolio companies to achieve accelerated growth both organically and through acquisitions. Waterland has offices in the Netherlands (Bussum), Belgium (Antwerp), France (Paris), Germany (Hamburg and Munich), Poland (Warsaw), the UK (Manchester), Ireland (Dublin), Denmark (Copenhagen), and Switzerland (Zurich), and currently manages more than eight billion Euro equity.

Since its founding in 1999, Waterland has consistently achieved above-average investment performance with its investments. Globally, Waterland holds rank four in the HEC/Dow Jones Private Equity Performance Ranking (December 2019) as well as ranked eighth in the Preqin Consistent Performers in Global Private Equity & Venture Capital Report among global private equity firms. In addition, Real Deals has awarded Waterland the title “Pan-European House of the Year 2020”.