A private equity firm in Dublin has paid £300 million to secure a majority sharing in Northern Ireland’s largest private healthcare provider Kingsbridge.
Contracts for its takeover as a going conern were secured with Exponent, which has now invested more than €1 billion in the island of Ireland.
Kingsbridge Healthcare Group was founded by medical doctors Suresh Tharma and Ashok Songra in Belfast in 2005, and both will remain significant minority investors in the company, which will also retain its existing senior leadership team, led by chief executive Mark Regan.
Dr Regan heralded the deal as “transformational” and “one which will save many patients’ lives”.
Over the last two decades Kingsbridge has expanded in both Northern Ireland and the Republic to include four hospitals and 11 clinics in Belfast, Derry and Sligo.
It employs more than 1,100 staff and engages 400 consultants across a range of advanced medical services in surgery and diagnostics.
Kingsbridge - which went to the market last September seeking an investment injection - provides more than 25,000 surgical treatments a year, including a number of patients under the Northern Ireland Planned Healthcare Scheme (formerly known as the Cross-Border Healthcare Directive) and National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF), contributing to reduced waiting list times for patients.
The investment by Exponent - its first in the north - will be used to further Kingsbridge’s growth ambitions in providing world-class medical services to patients across Ireland and enhancing access and availability to a wider range of treatment options.
Since 2012, Exponent has invested more than €1 billion in Irish-owned and based businesses, making it one of the most significant private equity investors in Ireland.
This is its third investment in Ireland in the past five months following its investment in Galway-based Chanelle Pharma in February (it was founded by the father-in-law of champion jockey Sir AP McCoy) and Dublin-based Ethos Engineering in March.
Dr Regan added: “This significant investment is a vote of confidence in our business. The team at Exponent is committed to supporting our local healthcare sector and has an impressive track record of backing great businesses across the island.
“Our aim from the very outset two decades ago was to improve access to healthcare, be that through supporting the public sector via the NHS, HSE and NTPF or those who wish to access our surgery and diagnostic services using self-pay models or private medical insurance.
“In Northern Ireland we have the longest healthcare waiting lists in Europe. By working in partnership with both the NHS and the HSE as well as the burgeoning private healthcare market here, I strongly believe that together we can make a real and lasting difference to the outcomes for many more patients.
“Our singular aim going forward is to continue to build on the legacy we’ve already established and to serve the healthcare needs of the population of Ireland, north and south.”
Exponent will be represented on the group’s board by Belfast-born Richard Lenane, managing partner of Exponent, and Dubliner David McGovern, partner in its Dublin office.
Mr Lenane said: “Kingsbridge Healthcare Group is an exceptional business providing excellence in medical care to patients. Through our investment, we look forward to building on the success of founders Suresh and Ashok to further enhance the range of services and highest standards of patient care that Kingsbridge is renowned for.
“We see huge potential for growth in the healthcare sector in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland as demand for accessible and more technologically advanced healthcare services increases. Our key priority will be strategically investing to ensure Kingsbridge Healthcare Group continues to have the best people, the best technology and the most advanced facilities to meet patients’ needs into the future. We look forward to working closely with Mark and his leadership team.”
David McGovern added: “Kingsbridge is a special business, doing important work in a differentiated way. The strength of the company’s culture and patient focus was apparent to us on our first visit to Belfast.
“Through its high-tech facilities and thoughtful operating model, Kingsbridge is strategically well positioned to address demand for healthcare services in Northern Ireland and across the island of Ireland.”