UK firm acquires care home group

One of the country’s leading nursing home groups, CareChoice, has been acquired by a leading UK investment firm in a multi-million euro deal. Emerald Investment Partners Ltd closed the €33m deal for the Cork-headquartered firm on Wednesday, market sources said.

CareChoice operates five care homes in Munster, making it one of the country’s largest such groups.

One of its founders, Paul Kingston, is to remain as executive director and will continue to lead CareChoice’s senior management team.

Commenting on the deal, Mr Kingston said that he was delighted to have secured such an investment after quite some time and expressed his belief that it would facilitate the company’s continued expansion.

“I have been looking for quite a while for this type of investment to enable us to continue to grow the business in key areas and am really looking to working with Emerald to achieve our ambitions. I am delighted to be continuing with CareChoice and we in CareChoice will continue to strive for excellence in the provision of care for the elderly,” Mr Kingston said.

The investment will allow CareChoice to pursue acquisition opportunities of existing homes and care home operators in the coming years.

The company is also planning to extend its management team as a result of the multi-million euro deal.

A sixth state-of-the-art facility, with over 150 beds, is currently under construction in Dublin and will open in 2015 — representing the company’s first expansion outside of the Munster region.

CareChoice operates four care homes in Cork: Clonakilty, Ballynoe, Montenotte, Macroom, and another in Dungarvan, Co Waterford.

In addition to expanding its 340-bed capacity with the opening of its Dublin facility, a further 150 beds are planned as part of an expansion programme at its existing sites.

Emerald Investment Partners partner, Mark O’Brien, welcomed the announcement, saying: “We are delighted with the investment in CareChoice as it is exactly the type of company we have been looking to acquire. It has an excellent track record in care of the elderly and matches our ethos as a family owned and run investment office”.

CareChoice made an after-tax profit of more than €2m in 2013, according to the latest set of accounts filed to with the Companies Registration Office.

The strong performance came on the back of increased turnover which rose from €16.9m in 2012 to €17.3m at the end of last year.

The company employs 420 workers.