Two decades after private equity firms first started to bet big on Central Europe’s private healthcare, the sector remains a magnet for investors looking to scale assets and drive consolidation, even amid broader macroeconomic caution.

Private healthcare was one of the sectors to flourish as the middle class grew in Central and Southeast Europe. Increasingly affluent residents of the region opted for private care rather than the state systems that in the earlier transition years lagged behind their western counterparts. Scandals in countries such as Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia further undermined trust in the public systems. 

Moreover, amid the tight competition for talent in the region, especially in the IT and tech sectors, private healthcare is one of the benefits offered by companies seeking to employ and retain workers. 

And while private equity investors continue to target healthcare in the region, there has also been a series of deals in adjacent sectors such as dental and veterinary care – similarly tapping markets that are growing as the population becomes increasingly affluent. 

Global healthcare private equity deal value hit $115bn in 2024, the second-highest on record, according to according to research by Bain & Company. Europe saw deal volumes surpass their 2021 peak as investors pursued transactions across biopharma and medtech. While overall private equity activity in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) dipped last year, healthcare and biotech remained the region’s third most active sector for investment.

In Romania, one of the largest markets in the region, a survey by Roland Berger found that private equity funds active in the country will prioritise healthcare and IT services in 2025, with over 40% seeing more attractive opportunities than in 2024 despite macroeconomic caution. At the end of 2024, Romanian private equity portfolios included around 80 companies with €2.5bn combined turnover, with healthcare, energy and utilities, and consumer goods dominating revenues.

Private equity giants including MidEuropa Partners, Enterprise Investors and Innova Capital have been central to shaping the CEE private healthcare landscape, backing major platforms and smaller specialist providers while expanding into adjacent sectors such as dental care and veterinary services.

Record healthcare deal 

In the biggest deal signed in the region’s healthcare sector to date, Finnish group Mehiläinen, backed by global firm CVC, announced in April it would acquire Romania’s second-largest private medical services provider Regina Maria from MidEuropa Partners in a deal reportedly worth €1.3bn.

Regina Maria, operating 300 units in Romania with 11,000 professionals serving over 2mn customers annually, also owns Serbia’s MediGroup, which serves another 1mn patients. Combined, the two reported revenues of around €550mn in 2024, according to CVC.

“This investment reflects Mehiläinen Group’s confidence in the economic development of the region … We are excited to step into this new stage, where we aim, together, to transform the European landscape of private healthcare,” said Fady Chreih, CEO of Regina Maria and chair of the board of MediGroup, as quoted in CVC’s press release announcing the deal.

Building national and regional champions

The Regina Maria sale underlines MidEuropa’s long-term strategy of creating “national champions” in Central Europe’s fragmented healthcare markets. Since its founding 25 years ago, the firm has built platforms like Poland’s Lux Med Group, Slovakia’s Alpha Medical, and ophthalmology specialist Optegra Eye Health Care. It recently acquired FAMAR, a contract and development manufacturing organisation (CDMO) serving pharmaceutical clients.

In Poland, Diagnostyka, backed by MidEuropa, listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange in February 2025 in one of the largest IPOs in five years, raising over €400mn and reaching a market capitalisation of over €1bn on debut. The company’s revenues have increased 15-fold under MidEuropa, now covering 99% of Poland through 128 follow-on acquisitions and greenfield developments.

“We have a rich healthcare experience which helps us to devise investment theses, and combining this with over 25 years of private equity investing helps us recognise attractive consolidation opportunities in the sector,” said Matthew Strassberg, partner and head of Healthcare at MidEuropa.

Polish private equity house Enterprise Investors has also been active in the sector.

In December 2024, Enterprise Investors launched a strategic consolidation of Poland’s outpatient care sector, committing up to €25mn from its EIF IX fund to modernise and consolidate clinics in mid-sized towns. The effort began with the acquisition of NZOZ Śródmieście-Biały Kamień in Wałbrzych, with further acquisitions in the pipeline.

It also sold Nu-Med, a cancer care provider it grew from a single centre to four locations, to Affidea in 2024. The firm’s managing partner, Michał Rusiecki, said at the time: “From a single radiotherapy centre, we’ve grown Nu-Med into a leading provider of cancer care.” 

Abris Capital Partners backed the Polish healthcare group Scanmed in 2020, building it up including through the acquisition of forms such as Centrum Rehabilitacji Sp. z o.o., a rehabilitation services provider, as part of it plan to build Poland’s leading independent medical services network. Scanmed was sold to American Heart of Poland in December 2024. 

Across the region

In the Baltic States, INVL Baltic Sea Growth Fund has been an investor in InMedica since 2019, merging it with MediCA Group three years later. "In order to become the largest private network in Lithuania, our goal was to merge these two highly successful Lithuanian businesses and subsequently become a €100mn+ enterprise,” said Nerijus Drobavicius, partner at INVL, said at the time. 

Fellow Baltic investor Livonia Partners took a majority stake in Estonia’s Medicum Group in April 2025, supporting further growth across specialised healthcare, rehabilitation, dental care and home nursing services.

Other regional firms like Morphosis Capital and NEVEQ Capital Partners list healthcare among their priority sectors, while Bulgarian investment firm HR Capital continues to support Eight Investments, a Sofia-based digital health technology developer, following a $2mn seed round to expand its US telehealth operations.

Dental sector draws attention

A related, and also attractive, sector is dental care, and private equity firms are increasingly eyeing dental clinics and labs across Central Europe, attracted by fragmented markets and steady demand.

Innova Capital has acquired stakes in Poland’s Medicadent Stomatologia and Dentaurus Clinics, while Morphosis Capital backed Romania’s Dr. Leahu Dental Clinics, the country’s largest dental network.

BaltCap, a key player in the Baltics, invested in Estonia’s Dental Invest Estonia (DIE), acquiring a 56% stake, while Abris Capital Partners has completed three dental sector acquisitions, including Dentstore in Romania, as part of a regional consolidation strategy.

Enterprise Investors has invested in Scan Lab, Poland’s largest digital dental prosthetics laboratory, reflecting the growing demand for innovative digital solutions in dentistry across the region.

Vet care becomes the next frontier

Beyond human healthcare, private equity funds are expanding into veterinary care, betting on rising pet ownership, more affluent pet owners and a fragmented market ready for consolidation.

In Poland, Cornerstone Investment Management and Oaktree Capital launched LuxVet24, aimed at consolidating companies in the veterinary industry. 

“More and more often, we treat pets as family members and, regardless of the expenses, we try to provide them with the best care. That makes the sector more and more attractive to potential investors and, in turn, leads to the inevitable consolidation in which we want to participate through the ambitious project of creating a nationwide veterinary platform,” said Piotr Zajączkowski, partner at Cornerstone Investment Management, according to a press release from the firm.

The INVL Baltic Sea Growth Fund entered Poland’s veterinary sector via MiniVet, which now operates nine clinics in Lithuania following recent acquisitions in Vilnius and Utena, while IAM Petcare Growth Fund and BaltCap Growth Fund have expanded the Vet Ventures platform across the region.

Most recently, Accession Capital Partners (ACP) announced in June it will provide up to €30mn in growth capital to Vetti Group d.o.o., the largest veterinary group operating in Croatia and the wider Adriatic region. The investment aims to support Vetti Group’s ongoing regional expansion and market consolidation strategy.