Aurelius Group has acquired Allied Healthcare, the UK’s largest domiciliary care business and a provider of outsourced healthcare services to the English primary care sector, from Saga.
The assets of Allied Healthcare acquired by Aurelius comprise the following businesses:
Visiting – largest provider of domiciliary care by market share and a provider of complex care services in the home to individuals with critical needs, commissioned by both Local Authorities and Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs).
Primecare – A provider of outsourced primary healthcare services, such as out-of-hours GP services, walk-in centres and dental practices, on behalf of public sector bodies in England including CCGs and National Health Service (NHS) Trusts. Additionally, Allied Nursing provides an agency service for temporary clinical/medical staff.
Homecare Independent Living (HCIL) – a home-based care and other housing and support services provider in which Allied Healthcare holds a majority interest, with operations in both Northern Ireland, where it is the leading domiciliary care provider, and the Republic of Ireland.
Allied Healthcare is the leading domiciliary care business in the UK and has over 12,000 employees; in 2014 the Company recorded revenues of GBP282m.
Dirk Markus, Chief Executive of Aurelius Group, says: “As a non-core asset of Saga, Allied Healthcare is a special situation investment that meets the Aurelius investment criteria on many levels. Aurelius regards the acquisition of Allied as an opportunity to further grow and develop the Company’s market leading position in the visiting care market – a critical service that supports the community care sector. Allied is a mature business with strong fundamentals; it has suffered from a number of legacy operational inefficiencies but we are confident that these can be streamlined.”
Tristan Nagler, Managing Director of Aurelius in the UK, says: “The enormous pressures facing vital UK care service providers like Allied Healthcare as a result of cuts to Local Authority funding and the impending introduction of the National Living Wage are well known. Aurelius’ operationally engaged approach means it is well positioned to give Allied the actively managed operational backing required to weather these challenges and ultimately build a strong and sustainable business in a sector that continues to grow year on year.
“This is the second complex carve-out transaction that Aurelius has made in the UK in Q4 2015; the deal further evidences our relevance for major UK corporates, such as Saga, seeking investment solutions for non-core assets.”
The acquisition of Allied Healthcare, combined with 10 other successful investments in 2015, will take Aurelius' annualised sales to over EUR3 billion. Last week, Aurelius announced the approval of approximately EUR166.3m of senior, unsecured convertible bonds due in 2020 which will provide the Group with a strong financial basis to support the organic and acquisitive growth of its investment portfolio.
