The Business
The Advantage Healthcare Rutland deal brought together a number of nationally known BUPA-owned businesses, namely BUPA Nursing, Strand Nurses, Montpellier Health Care and Professional Healthcare Services. The businesses provide temporary doctors, nurses, specialist nurses, allied health professionals and carers enabling NHS and private care providers to cover staff shortfalls and fluctuating workloads. Advantage Healthcare had a network of 25 branches with a database of over 6,500 workers and a number of preferred supplier arrangements, including the NHS and BUPA itself.
Investment thesis
On acquisition, the business was a non-core business of BUPA operating in a market with significant challenges due to the structural changes impacting the NHS staffing market and healthcare sector. Post carve-out, the strategy was to transition the business activities from the declining healthcare staffing market to the higher growth home healthcare provision market. To facilitate this strategy, investment was made in appropriate central resources to enable managed growth into home healthcare provision. Centralisation of worker recruitment, training and compliance were key areas of focus and the website was also developed into a key tool for recruiting workers and promoting the business.
Exit
By exit, Advantage Healthcare was a leading UK provider of home healthcare and healthcare staffing services with a network of 27 branches and a large database of healthcare workers. The business worked with Primary Care Trusts (PCTs), insurers and private individuals to provide high quality care for people in their homes. Home healthcare represented c.10% of revenues at acquisition and by exit this proportion had risen to c.80%. The business was successfully sold to a Trade buyer, Interserve, delivering a 2.6x money multiple for investors.
