Amethyst-Stingray Alliance Featured By HBI
Investment platform Healthcare Business International (HBI) has published a news story on the new alliance between private oncology groups Amethyst Healthcare (with centres in seven countries across Europe) and Stingray (with a major presence in both France and Germany).
The integration was made possible thanks to the acquisition of Stingray by private equity firm Fremman Capital, with the new combined entity to operate 30 treatment centres across eight countries: the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Austria, Portugal and Romania.
In all, 60 linear accelerators will be in use, delivering approximately 35,000 radiotherapy treatments each year. This makes the group Europe’s biggest private cancer care provider, with revenue of more than €200 million.
It will be led by Stingray CEO Ralph Hefti, although the Amethyst clinics will retain the Amethyst brand for the foreseeable future to support brand familiarity. However, a new brand may be established at some point.
Speaking to the news source, Mr Hefti said: “For me the concept of an integration implies that you lose something. I would see the intention here being a bit different: to add together two businesses which historically were already two of the three leading radiotherapy platforms in Europe in terms of size, financials, KPIs etc.
“But what is important is really the combination of the two different operating models. Amethyst is very much a brand to patients whereas Stingray is a value proposition to doctors and to institutions.
“By combining the two, not only do we get the obvious benefits of size and potential for economies of scale, but we also combine the value proposition so that it is a platform that offers new opportunities to institutions, hospitals, doctors and medical professionals.”
He went on to say that the group now has over 1,000 oncology professionals on staff, making it the biggest team of cancer professionals in Europe – and perhaps even the world.
This, Mr Hefti continued, will address what he described as the biggest bottleneck in healthcare services by becoming an attractive brand for those in the profession, tackling staff shortages head on.
Learn more about our advanced radiotherapy and neurosurgical treatments for different cancers on the Amethyst Group website.
