British healthcare management company, HC-One has completed a £3900 million acquisition of 122 care homes from Bupa, in a deal termed the biggest in the country. Run by chairman Dr Chai Patel, the company has been expanding and has already bought a total of 50 homes in the last three years.
“We are building an organisation that residents and families can rely on, one which can withstand future uncertainties,” Dr Patel said. He stated that the purchase of Bupa care homes boosted HC-One's leading investment programme on which huge amounts of time and resource on learning and development programmes, IT systems, and homes were spent. “The investment we have made gives us the confidence to reach out to serve even more local communities across Britain. We will be larger going forward but we will ensure that every single person we care for experiences the same culture and focus on kindness that have characterised HC-One since our first day of operation,” he said.
“The homes we have acquired from Bupa are dispersed across the UK, and demonstrate HC-One’s ongoing strategy to focus on strong regional growth. HC-One’s growth is financially sustainable – our debt levels are both prudent and manageable – and our ever strengthening and stable financial position means residents will continue to receive the kindest high-quality care through a range of specialist services and equally that we will continue to invest in our staff. We also have taken huge steps to ensure we operate with tried and tested processes that put residents first and which will support our continued growth.”
Bupa holds around 150 care homes and six retirement villages, looking after over 9000 residents. It has several other schemes under construction. Chief Executive Officer at Bupa UK, David Hynam stated that the company would remain “a major investor” in the sector.
Touted to be a game-changer, the deal also suffers reports of debt. Sources said the Bupa deal could potentially end up with debts worth over £600 million for HC-One, triggering new concerns for the financial management of UK care homes groups. Patel's company seems to have debts worth £287 million, and the Bupa deal only pushes it over the edge.
Refraining to comment on its financial position, HC-One said it was investing £100 million into its operations and that its backers were “committed”. “We are proud to have one of the strongest quality records within the elderly care sector, and work closely with the CQC, our local authority partners, and local healthcare professionals to make sure our homes are the best they can be,” it said.
