Al Borg Laboratories acquire the Leading Cytogenetics Lab in Egypt

Egypt-based Al Borg Laboratories, a medical-testing company controlled by funds managed by Abraaj Capital, has entered into an agreement for the acquisition of 51% of the share capital of the Medical Genetics Center (“MGC”), Egypt’s largest private Cytogenetics-testing laboratory with an estimated 70% share of the Egyptian private market.

According to Dr Ahmed El Saifi, Founder and Chairman of Al Borg Laboratories, this comes as Al Borg continues to execute on its acquisition strategy to expand geographical footprint and add new service capabilities. MGC’s founder and Managing Director, Dr. Ezzat Al Sobky, the only US-accredited geneticist in Egypt, will continue to hold a significant stake and run the business going forward.

Cytogenetics is a small but fast-growing niche of the medical-testing industry in the Middle East. An already high and growing penetration of inherited diseases, combined with increased public awareness of the benefits of pre-marital and pre-natal testing in pre-empting and avoiding such diseases, continues to fuel demand for genetic testing.

Last year, Al Borg completed the acquisition of 99.9% stake in the Molecular Biology Lab (“MBL”), the largest PCR-testing laboratory in Egypt. Together, MGC and MBL will start offering molecular-genetics testing previously outsourced to European labs within the Group, significantly reducing the cost of offering these tests to Al Borg clients.

Going forward, Al Borg will continue to look for an acquisition in the tandem mass spectrometry sector to lock-in the genetic-testing triangle and gain access to the highly specialized pharmaceutical clinical-research testing.

“The recently completed acquisitions and projects currently in the pipeline will help make Al Borg Laboratories the largest private operator of medical-testing laboratories in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia (MENASA) region, meeting the needs of the region’s population with improved quality care and service offering,” said Ahmed Badreldin, Executive Director at Abraaj Capital. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval.