Deals

Cinven buys mental health service provider

The £552m buyout of Partnerships in Care puts Cinven back in control of the company it last owned in 2000 as part of the General Healthcare Group.

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Cinven, the London-based European private equity firm, has bought psychiatric care business Partnerships in Care from its parent company General Healthcare Group for a cash price of £552 million ($1.03 billion; €801 million).

Partnerships in Care provides over 800 beds in 12 facilities for patients with brain injuries, mental illness or learning disabilities. The company employs 2,500 people and operates services including secure psychiatric services, specialist units for people with learning disabilities and brain injury rehabilitation units.

Other firms interested in the company included Terra Firma, HgCapital and Electra Partners, according to Reuters.

Partnerships in Care was previously a unit of hospital chain General Healthcare, which Cinven acquired in July 1997 from Compagnie Générale des Eaux for €998 million and sold to BC Partners for £1.28 billion in September 2000.

Cinven is a European buyout firm with offices in Frankfurt, London and Paris, focusing on companies with an enterprise value of over €250 million. It is currently investing its €4.4 billion vintage 2002 third fund.

The UK's mental health sector is likely to see further private equity activity over the next few weeks, as Doughty Hanson is expected to put the Priory Group on the market.