Bridgepoint sells care homes in secondary MBO

Barclays Private Equity (BPE), the European mid-market private equity arm of Barclays Bank, has acquired Robinia, a care provider for people with learning difficulties, in a secondary management buyout from rival mid-market GP Bridgepoint.
 
BPE paid £80 million (€117 million; $143 million) to acquire Robinia with debt provided by Barclays Leveraged Finance. BPE said that it expects to syndicate some of the equity to Lloyds Development Capital (LDC) within the next few weeks.
 
The acquisition was made from BPE’s €1.65 billion ($2.01 billion) Barclays Private Equity European Fund II, which closed in February 2005.
 
James Murray, partner at Bridgepoint, told PEO that the firm had originally invested an undisclosed sum in Robinia in July 2003 from its Bridgepoint Europe II fund, which is now fully invested. The firm is believed to have made a money multiple of over 2x on its original investment.
 
Bath, UK-headquartered Robinia was founded in 1995 to provide care and support to people with learning difficulties, including autism and Asperger’s syndrome. The company is the third-largest operator of beds for people with learning difficulties in the UK, with 539 beds in a portfolio of 79 homes located across England’s Midlands, North, South and South East regions as well as London.

Bridgepoint is currently investing from its Bridgepoint Europe III fund, which closed on €2.5 billion in May 2005. The fund made its first acquisition in October of last year, purchasing environmental consultancy service ERM for $535 million (€437 million).
 
Bridgepoint also confirmed the sale of its 23.75 percent stake in Spanish wind farm developer CESA today in a transaction valued at €1.47 billion.