Four Seasons doubles Scottish presence

FOUR Seasons Health Care, the UK’s largest care homes operator, is drawing up long term plans for further growth in Scotland.

The group, which started life 10 years ago with just five properties in Fife, has been propelled to the top of the care home league after concluding a complex 380m corporate acquisition involving Nasdaq-listed Omega Worldwide and Principal Healthcare Finance of Jersey.

After a period of steady growth Four Seasons has now, in one move, more than doubled its presence in Scotland to 51 homes with 2,750 beds.

But Hamilton Anstead, Four Seasons’ chief executive, told Scotland on Sunday: "We want to be the single biggest provider in Scotland and certainly the overall capacity is well north of 10,000 beds."

The deal also sees Four Seasons, now based in Cheshire, over-taking Bupa as the number one operator across the UK with over 280 homes with 14,000 beds.

Four Seasons, which is backed by private equity firm Alchemy Partners, owns a further 120 homes with 4,000 beds, which are leased to third parties.

Anstead has spent all year putting together the takeover of Omega, which despite its Nasdaq listing operates solely in the UK.

It is to be de-listed from Nasdaq as Anstead sets about integrating the businesses, which will have a combined annual revenue of around 275m.

Anstead said: "We have to spend at least six to nine months bedding down the management at our Scottish headquarters in Paisley. After that I could see us starting to grow again in Scotland providing there are assets of suitably high quality."

The care home sector has experienced mixed financial fortunes in recent years largely as a result of the low charges set for patients who are referred by local authorities. The sector has also attracted property speculators who have been more interested in the assets than in healthcare.

But a wave of recent consolidation has seen the likes of Four Seasons and Bupa emerge as the dominant players. Unlike Bupa with its health insurance-related activities, Four Seasons specialises in care homes.

Anstead said: "There is not much more major consolidation to come but it does leave us opportunities to grow."

He added: "We do have the opportunity, unlike Bupa, to create the first single, long term care brand."

Four Seasons is now Alchemy’s largest single company investment. The venture capitalist has a 85% stake in the business.