August Equity has completed the sale of Healthcare Homes Group (HHG) to Bowmark Capital LLP for £75 million. Since the original investment in 2005, August Equity and the HHG management team pursued a buy-and-build strategy that has seen the group grow from four homes with 100 beds to 21 homes with over 800 beds.
At the time of exit HHG was the largest care home provider in East Anglia having made eight successful acquisitions including, in February this year, Manorcourt Care Limited, a privately owned care and nursing home based in Norfolk.
Commenting on the sale Philip Rattle, August Equity partner, said: “We have enjoyed working with Richard Clough and the management team at HHG. The growth of the group has been impressive over the past three years, and the team has continued to ensure that the highest standards of care are offered to the residents of the homes.”
August Equity is excited about the future opportunities in the healthcare sector, which according to research carried out by Mergermarket’s research arm Remark, is one perceived by respondents to be the highest growth area in the current economic environment. This is due to an ageing population, medical and technological advances and a growing need for high service and quality in healthcare.
More than 75 investment and healthcare professionals attended the latest August Equity Healthcare Deal Club event on 14 May, which featured guest speakers Mark Britnell, director-general for commissioning for the NHS, and Peter Farrier, former chief executive officer of Partnerships in Care, the leading provider of medium secure mental health hospitals in the UK.
Discussion at the event revolved around how the NHS and the private sector could work more closely together and on the tremendous opportunities for mid-market companies to become suppliers. For the first time in the 60-year history of the UK health service, a competition panel has been formed to enable interested parties to air their views, adding substance to Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s commitment to greater involvement by the private sector.
August Equity partner Philip Rattle said: “August Equity has spent a long time building an intricate network of contacts in the area, and is well-placed to benefit from its development. We have an intimate understanding of the sector. There is a plentiful supply of investment opportunities in the mid-market. It is a very fragmented area.”
The UK healthcare market was worth £111.4 billion in 2005, according to Office for National Statistics figures.
August Equity’s portfolio company Boat International has boosted its presence in the superyacht market thanks to two recent acquisitions. The company has purchased both The Wood Report, a leading database and information provider for the superyacht industry, and the remaining 50% stake of The Captains’ Hideout, an established event for captains and their crews at superyacht shows worldwide.
In addition to these acquisitions, Boat International has increased its product offering by launching its latest title, Boat International Gulf, a bi-monthly title for the Middle East market. “Boat International Gulf is targeted at a highly affluent and sophisticated market,” explains Boat International CEO, Tony Harris, “and the best way to reach them is to communicate in their own language.”
“We look forward to an exciting phase of development for Boat International,” says Fraser Davidson, investment director at August Equity. “The core business is performing exceptionally well underpinned by the strong underlying economics of the sector.”
The latest August Equity Media & Technology Deal Club was full of thought-provoking discussion.
Anil Hansjee, the head of corporate development at Google EMEA and David Mitchell, senior vice president IT research at OVUM, spoke at the event, which was attended by a large number of both current and former August Equity CEOs, alongside advisors and investors. The panel discussion was focused on the continued convergence of media and technology. In particular, energetic discussion was had on the thought that businesses and search engines become more focused on the vertical sub-sectors of their core markets.
Aatif Hassan and Keith Davidson have been promoted to investment directors. Since joining August Equity in 2005, Aatif has worked on a range of deals, with a particular focus on healthcare.
Aatif was recently involved in the management buy-out of Lifeways Community Care for which he is a non-executive director. Keith has been with August Equity since 2006, during which time he has been responsible for executing deals across all four sectors including the 4Projects, Boat International and Lifeways Community Care deals.
Outnumbered is a new comedy about the daily chaos of family life from Hat Trick Productions, which has been in the August Equity portfolio since 2003. The series – “an honest portrayal of well-meaning parental incompetence” – is written by the team responsible for creating Drop The Dead Donkey and stars Hugh Dennis (Mock The Week), Claire Skinner (Sense and Sensibility) and Samantha Bond (Die Another Day).
In April, Boat International hosted the 2008 World Superyacht Awards in Venice. Key industry players gathered for a gala evening to witness the presentation of 18 coveted ‘Neptunes’ – the ‘Oscars’ of the superyacht world.
August Equity portfolio company Rixonway Kitchens has launched a kitchen recycling service in response to the Government’s zero carbon initiative. Instead of going to landfill, waste from refurbished kitchens will be processed and recycled.
Imagine Publishing has joined forces with UK market leader in internet price comparison shopping, PriceGrabber.co.uk. The partnership will see product and price comparison software incorporated into Imagine’s entire online portfolio, including video games, photography and computing websites, enabling subscribers to obtain free, unbiased information about products before making a purchase decision.
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