Smith Square advises Aurelius Limited on the acquisition of Allied Healthcare from Saga plc

On Tuesday 1st December, Aurelius Investments Limited (“Aurelius”) announced the acquisition of Allied Healthcare Limited (“Allied”) from Saga plc. Allied is the UK’s largest domiciliary care business and a leading provider of outsourced healthcare services to the primary care sector. The business has over 12,000 employees and generated revenues of circa £282m in 2014. Allied’s core business comprises the following:

• Visiting Care: The UK’s largest provider of domiciliary care by market share and a provider of complex care services in the home to individuals with critical needs, commissioned by both Local Authorities and Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs).
• Primecare: A provider of outsourced primary healthcare services, such as out-of-hours GP services, walk-in centres and dental practices, on behalf of public sector bodies in England including CCGs and NHS Trusts. Additionally, Allied Nursing provides an agency service for temporary clinical/medical staff.
• Homecare Independent Living (HCIL): a home-based care and other housing and support services provider in which Allied holds a majority interest, with operations in both Northern Ireland, where it is the leading domiciliary care provider, and the Republic of Ireland.

Commenting on the acquisition, Dirk Markus, Chief Executive of Aurelius Group, said: “As a non-core asset of Saga, Allied Healthcare is a special situation investment that meets the Aurelius investment criteria on many levels. Aurelius regards the acquisition of Allied as an opportunity to further grow and develop the Company’s market leading position in the visiting care market – a critical service that supports the community care sector. Allied is a mature business with strong fundamentals; it has suffered from a number of legacy operational inefficiencies but we are confident that these can be streamlined.”

Tristan Nagler, Managing Director of Aurelius in the UK, commented: “The enormous pressures facing vital UK care service providers like Allied Healthcare as a result of cuts to Local Authority funding and the impending introduction of the National Living Wage are well known. Aurelius’ operationally engaged approach means it is well positioned to give Allied the actively managed operational backing required to weather these challenges and ultimately build a strong and sustainable business in a sector that continues to grow year on year.”

Smith Square acted as financial adviser to Aurelius in relation to the transaction.