HC-One clinches £300m Bupa deal in largest ever care home acquisition

An agreement to acquire 122 Bupa care homes by HC-One for £300m has been announced, in what is thought to be the biggest deal in care home history.

Although the sale will only be announced as fully complete once it has met regulatory approval, HC-One chairman Dr Chai Patel is confident the sale will go through, and cites the Bupa acquisition as the ‘highlight of his career’.

He said: “Today’s news represents a true highlight of my 30-year career, which started as a junior doctor on NHS wards in Southampton.

“The acquisition is the latest step in the expansion of our provision of the very best and kindest care. The homes we have acquired from Bupa are dispersed across the UK, and demonstrate HC-One’s ongoing strategy to focus on strong regional growth.”

HC-One sprung up after the Southern Cross collapse in 2011, and was acquired in November 2014 by finance firms Court Cavendish, Formation Capital and Safanad.

Since then, HC-One has been on a massive acquisitions trail in a bid to take the company to the next level. It is now poised to become the single largest care home operator in the UK.

In the past three years alone major acquisitions have included care providers Meridian (30 homes) and Helen McArdle Care (20 homes).

This Bupa deal will take HC-One's total number of care homes up to 350.

Dr Patel maintains that HC-One will be in a ‘stronger position’ after the sale, despite concerns over financing. He added: “HC-One’s growth is financially sustainable - our debt levels are both prudent and manageable - and our ever strengthening and stable financial position means residents will continue to receive the kindest high-quality care through a range of specialist services and equally that we will continue to invest in our staff.”

Bupa is retaining around 150 care homes and six retirement villages.

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