Care UK

ACCEPT OFFER

03/03/2010 Robert Tyerman

Private equity group Bridgepoint has agreed terms with health and social care provider Care UK for a £281m bid backed by senior management.

The bid, to be carried out by a Bridgepoint-created vehicle Warwick Bidco, is worth 450p cash for each share in fully-listed Care UK, which is 51.3% more than the price before talks began in September and 27% up from Growth Company Investor’s recommendation in November. If shareholders approve the deal, chief executive Mike Parish and his senior colleagues will together put some £1.8m into Warwick Bidco and members of Care UK’s senior management team will reinvest around 58% of their portion of the bid payment into the new group.

Warwick Bidco says it has received irrevocable undertakings to support the bid from independent directors and other shareholders amounting to 21.6% of Care UK’s equity and from the management team representing another 8.1%. Jamie Wyatt, head of Bridgepoint’s healthcare side, argues the offer ‘will allow Care UK to accelerate growth and undertake selective acquisitions in a way that it was unable to as a quoted business’.

Investors should accept the offer, if it wins approval.

Tags: AIM, Mergers & acquisitions

Sector: Health Care Equipment & Services

Companies: Care UK

Market cap: £273m

PE Forecast: n/a

Share price: 444.75p