Private equity house Key Capital Partners (KCP) has exited its investment in Nurse Plus to a secondary MBO funded by Sovereign Capital (Sovereign) and led by Nurse Plus CEO Heath Blake and MD Pamela Bruce.
The transaction gives KCP an attractive return on its original investment and represents the firm's third successful exit in 2014 following on from its sales of TSC Foods and Neville Johnson earlier in the year.
Established in 2005, Nurse Plus is a healthcare services provider, specialising in domiciliary care services and providing flexible staffing solutions for care homes and hospitals.
Under KCP ownership the Canterbury-based recruitment company opened 10 new branches, taking its total branch network to 35 across the UK and significantly enhanced its homecare offering. Turnover has more than doubled during this period.
Chairman Stewart Rogers will continue on the board as a non-executive director following the deal.
Heath Blake, CEO at Nurse Plus, says: “We have enjoyed working with KCP during this period of rapid expansion; they have proven to be a supportive partner with a real understanding of the challenges facing a growing business.”
Mike Fell, Investment Partner for KCP, says: “It has been a pleasure to work with such a dedicated management team and such a high quality business. We are convinced that Nurse Plus will continue to go from strength to strength and wish Heath, Pam and the team every success in the future.”
Mike Fell and Philip Duquenoy led the deal for KCP. KCP and Nurse Plus management was advised by Grant Thornton (corporate finance) and Mills and Reeve (lawyers). Clearwater International advised Sovereign on the sale.
The Acquisition Finance team at Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking provided working capital facilities to support the transaction.
