In 2022, Beyond Capital Partners acquired a majority stake in Ank-Kaiser Sanitätshaus Group (“Ank”) and supported the company in pursuing a buy-and-build strategy to strengthen its market position. Over slightly more than three years, sales and EBITDA could consequently triple and Ank has grown into the Top Five medical supply groups in Germany. The interview focuses on the challenges in the German healthcare market, the company’s national growth strategy, partnerships & mergers, and its strategic priorities.
How do you currently assess the challenges taking place in the German healthcare and medical supply market (such as demographic change or rising cost pressure), and what impact do they have on your business?
Demographic change is accelerating demand, with more chronic conditions, mobility needs, and a growing number of rehabilitation cases. At once, it is intensifying the talent shortage, making hiring and retention a top management priority. Cost pressure across the system continues to rise as payers face structural deficits, leading to stricter processes and increased bureaucracy.
At the same time, we observe a clear willingness among patients and consumers to invest in health and quality of life. When outcomes, expert advice, and trust are clearly demonstrated, value is recognized and accepted.
The Ank-Kaiser Group continues to expand on a national level, how do you balance growth with maintaining its regional identity and core values?
Our long-established regional brands are a key asset— they represent trust and local proximity to patients. Internally, we are increasingly operating as one group: a strong backbone in back office, IT, and processes enables our regional teams to focus on what matters most — consultation, patient care, and quality.
Beyond Capital Partners is supporting us in achieving above-average organic growth, and, through a nationwide buy-and-build strategy, is also a key driver of profitable expansion. In just three years, we have grown from a regional player in a highly fragmented market to one of the top five companies in Germany in terms of size and sales.
How do your organisational and operational factors contribute to improving service quality for patients and partners while ensuring consistent efficiency across multiple locations?
We are building a central, cross-site matrix organization: customer-facing excellence remains close to the patient, while standardized tasks are handled through shared services such as billing, procurement, IT, and HR. Our goal is to maximize automation of repetitive processes — master data management, billing standards, and infrastructure — so we can achieve “less paperwork, more patient care.”
What role do partnerships, collaborations, and mergers play in your long-term strategy, and what criteria guide your evaluation of M&A opportunities in the healthcare market?
We operate in a complex ecosystem of stakeholders, so partnerships and collaborations are essential for enhancing care — through expertise, availability, quality, and more seamless process integration. M&A is part of our buy-and-build strategy, and we assess opportunities against clear criteria: quality of care, cultural and values alignment, regional strength, Medical Device Regulation (MDR)/compliance maturity, digital readiness, profitability, and synergy potential across procurement, IT, billing, and logistics.
Looking ahead to 2026 and the years after, what strategic priorities will shape your company’s growth and development?
Our key priorities for 2026 and the coming years include a continuation of the already well progressed scalable organizational transformation to support further growth, operational excellence and innovation through automation, enhanced data-driven decision making and targeted innovation areas such as individualized care, 3D components and exclusive assortments, as well as continued growth through geographic expansion and strategic partnerships. Always with a clear focus on improving patient outcomes and service quality.
