Partner Article

Nursing specialists in £15m MBO

Independent private equity house, Key Capital Partners, has supported the £15m management buy-out of high-quality nursing and care staffing specialists, Nurse Plus.

£6.5m investment from KCP will fund the expansion of Nurse Plus to 40 branches within five years and support the development of over a thousand more highly trained nursing and care staff.

The Co-operative Bank provided a £4.3m debt facility to support the management buyout of the Canterbury-based business.

Nurse Plus was established in 2005, and specialises in premium staffing solutions for domiciliary care and the provision of temporary professionals to the healthcare sector, including learning disability and mental health units, schools, prisons, hospitals and care homes.

Managing director, Heath Blake, said: “Our determination to improve patient care has been integral to our decision to take on external investment.

“Expanding the branch network and increasing our capacity to train more quality staff is essential to our business and in helping those in need. We look forward to working closely with the team at KCP to fulfill our ambitions.”

KCP investment partner Mike Fell and director Duquenoy will join the board at Nurse Plus.

Mr Fell said: “The UK’s ageing population, coupled with the Government’s drive to increase choice for NHS-funded services through its ‘Any Qualified Provider’ commitment is driving demand for high quality and flexible nursing and care services.”

“Our investment in Nurse Plus will support the business in its objectives to improve patient care and in providing cost-effective and flexible staffing solutions to the healthcare sector.”

Law firm Mills & Reeve and the Reading office of accountancy firm BDO advised KCP on the transaction, while commercial due diligence was conducted by Armstrong Transaction Services. BCMS Corporate provided corporate finance advice to the Nurse Plus shareholders.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .