Deals

TowerBrook makes 12 times money on healthcare business

The final sale of shares in healthcare services company WellCare Health Plans by George Soros’s former private equity unit, has delivered investors a return of 12 times their original money.

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TowerBrook Capital Partners, the former private equity arm of Soros Fund Management, has sold the remainder of its shares in WellCare Health Plans, a US care group, making 12 times its money, or $850m (€665m).
 
TowerBrook held an initial public offering of one million shares in 2004, which returned 9.7-times its original investment.

Last week’s sale of the remaining 5.2 million shares or about 13% of WellCare’s issued capital, after a number of block trades, was more profitable, a source said.

TowerBrook’s first fund, formerly known as Soros Private Equity Partners I, made a $70m investment in the $233m buyout in 2002.

WellCare bought Harmony Health Systems for $50m in 2004 before listing on the New York Stock Exchange.

It is the second profitable exit for TowerBrook this year, following the sale of its 40% stake in Swedish business TradeDoubler, an internet marketing services business.

The deal took the final return on its initial $8.5m investment, made after the dotcom bubble burst in 2000, to $160m.