Spire Healthcare acquires Classic Hospitals

Spire Healthcare, the private hospital group owned by leading private equity firm Cinven, has reached agreement to acquire Classic Hospitals Group from LGV Capital for £145 million.

 

Classic Hospitals is the 6th largest hospital group in the UK with 10 hospitals around the North and South East of England, as well as two off-site consulting rooms. It was bought by LGV from BUPA in July 2005.

 

The ten hospitals are: Clare Park in Farnham, Dunedin in Reading, Elland in Halifax, Fylde Coast in Blackpool, Hull and East Riding in Hull,  Lourdes in Liverpool, Methley Park in Wakefield,  Regency in Macclesfield, St Saviours in Hythe and Yale in Wrexham.  Collectively Classic Hospitals has 370 beds and employs over 2,000 staff. The ten hospitals will all be rebranded as Spire Hospitals.

 

Following this acquisition, Spire Healthcare, which was acquired from BUPA for £1.44 billion in June 2007, will have a total of 35 hospitals across the UK and become the second largest private hospital provider in the country.

 

Rob Roger, Chief Financial Officer of Spire Healthcare, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity to incorporate ten high quality hospitals into Spire’s portfolio. It fits with our new status as a stand-alone healthcare provider and our strategy to grow our business and focus on premium private healthcare.”

 

Simon Rowlands, partner at Cinven, said: “Classic Hospitals is a very high quality business with excellent facilities and people.  As a result, it represents an attractive acquisition for Spire.”