Munich,10 January 2018 – SYNLAB Group (‘SYNLAB’ or ‘the Group’) the leading European provider of medical diagnostic services, today announces that Dr Bartl Wimmer will retire as Group Chief Executive Officer with effect from 2 April 2018. He will remain with the Group as a Senior Advisor, a Director of the SYNLAB Board and as a significant shareholder.

Mathieu Floreani, who joined the Group as Deputy CEO in 2017, will succeed Dr Bartl Wimmer as Group CEO with effect from 2 April 2018. Apart from his current position, he held previous CEO and executive positions in several leading global businesses. Prior to joining SYNLAB, he was CEO of the Forwarding division of DHL in the Americas, where he led an organisation operating across 20 countries with a turnover of over €3 billion. Mathieu Floreani had joined DHL from McKinsey, where he led strategy and organisational engagements, and had previously spent nine years with energy and chemicals producer Total. Dr Bartl Wimmer will work closely with Mathieu until the end of June to effect a seamless transition.   

Dr Bartl Wimmer co-founded SYNLAB in 1998, as a human and later veterinary laboratory and environmental analysis group serving the German market and led the dynamic domestic and international expansion of the business over the past two decades. He shaped the medical diagnostics industry finding the right balance between medical excellence and commercialisation providing access to “any test, any place, any time”. In 2015, he executed the transformational combination with Labco, the French medical diagnostic laboratories group, to form SYNLAB Group. He has been instrumental in the growth of SYNLAB from a laboratory generating about €30 million of revenues more than 20 years ago to the Group’s position today as the European number one in medical diagnostic services, generating ca. €1.9 billion of sales and producing approximately 500 million test results annually. 

In particular, under Dr Bartl Wimmer’s stewardship as CEO of SYNLAB, the Group has: 

  • Successfully completed and integrated more than 100 acquisitions forming a network of more than 1000 medical experts across all diagnostic disciplines; 
  • Expanded internationally in over 40 countries globally across four continents; and 
  • Became a frontrunner for innovation, making new diagnostic technologies and opportunities available and accessible throughout the SYNLAB network.

Peter Catterall, Partner and Executive Committee member at Cinven and a SYNLAB Board member, said: 

“Dr Bartl Wimmer has been an exceptional CEO of SYNLAB. Over the last 20 years he has led the transformation of clinical diagnostics in Europe. He has established SYNLAB as the only true panEuropean clinical laboratory, enabling the Group to generate exceptional growth and to offer superior service to the medical community. He has also set the ground for the future development of SYNLAB in emerging markets such as Latin America, and in environmental testing. 

The SYNLAB Board fully recognises his outstanding leadership to the business.  He has been remarkable in his vision and ability to build the current SYNLAB organisation from the start and to create a robust platform to support its future growth. We have been privileged to work with him and are delighted that he will remain with the business as a member of the Board and a Senior Advisor. The Board welcomes Mathieu Floreani as the new Group CEO of SYNLAB. We have had the pleasure of working closely with him over the past few months and have seen his impressive abilities which we believe will be of significant value to SYNLAB going forward.” 

 

Dr Bartl Wimmer, current SYNLAB Group CEO, commented:  

“I take great personal pride in the Group’s achievements over the past two decades making SYNLAB what it is today – a leading player in the diagnostics market. I am thankful for the opportunity to work closely with many outstanding talents over the years. After 20 years, I look forward to retirement, but also look forward to remaining close to the business as Senior Advisor and member of the Board of Directors. SYNLAB is in a strong position and I continue to believe in its remarkable prospects for the future and want to continue supporting its growth story.    

I am convinced that Mathieu will be a first class CEO and I look forward to continuing to work with him. Over the past months, I have come to know that Mathieu possesses the right acumen and experience for this challenging and exciting position at SYNLAB. He has a strong track record in accelerating profitable growth of international businesses, driving operational excellence and motivating teams. I am confident that SYNLAB will be in extremely capable hands with Mathieu as CEO as it enters the next phase of consolidation and growth.” 

Mathieu Floreani, SYNLAB Group CEO-elect said:  

“I am delighted to be appointed CEO of SYNLAB from 2 April. The Group is extremely well positioned and I am absolutely thrilled to continue working with a highly talented team on fulfilling our ambitious strategy in the years ahead. 

The prime focus of my responsibility as the new CEO is the delivery of our high quality medical diagnostic services to our customers and patients; as well as continuously enhance our service portfolio and expanding our customer reach. SYNLAB wants to achieve this at the same time as being a profitable business and an attractive employer for our employees.”