Egypt's Al Borg Laboratories has agreed to buy a 51 per cent stake in Medical Genetics Centre, the country's biggest genetics testing laboratory, it said in a statement on Thursday.

Al Borg, which has a 25 per cent share of Egypt's private medical testing market, is controlled by Dubai-based private equity fund Abraaj Group. It did not say how much it paid for the stake.

Al Borg aims to become "the largest private operator of medical testing laboratories in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia," it said in the statement.

Medical Genetics has an estimated 70 per cent share of Egypt's market for private genetics testing, the statement said.

Last year, Al Borg bought 99.9 per cent of another Egyptian medical testing company, Molecular Biology Lab.

Abraaj, which has about $6.5 billion in funds under management, said in November it was looking to grow Al Borg regionally, exporting and in-sourcing work from elsewhere in the region. – Reuters