News Article

Pan-European medical diagnostic services and specialty testing group Synlab has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its medical diagnostic activities in Slovakia to rival Unilabs Group, marking another step in its ongoing portfolio optimisation strategy.

This transaction, announced in February 2026, focuses the group’s resources on markets where it can achieve greater scale and sustainable development. The Slovakian business is a relatively small component of the overall organisation, contributing approximately 0.7 percent of Synlab’s total group revenue in 2025. Mathieu Floreani, the CEO of Synlab, notes that the decision followed a strategic review that identified limited opportunities to further scale up operations within the country.

Strategic Divestment and Market Exit

The sale to Unilabs is part of a broader trend of geographic consolidation for Synlab. In April 2025, the company divested its operations in Croatia, Cyprus, North Macedonia, Romania, Slovenia, and Turkey to Medicover Group, which represented 1.5 percent of 2024 revenues. Additionally, Synlab reached an agreement to sell its Spanish business to Eurofins Scientific in late 2024 to better align its laboratory footprint with high-impact markets. These divestments reflect a disciplined approach to capital deployment, ensuring that the group remains focused on countries offering the most attractive strategic perspectives for future growth.

Unilabs was one of Synlab’s primary competitors within the Slovakian and Czech diagnostic markets. While Synlab had historically maintained a top-five market position in Slovakia, the company has increasingly prioritised markets where it can leverage its leading level of service and medical expertise more effectively. The exit from Slovakia follows a similar pattern to Synlab’s 2019 departure from Norway.