360 care homes to fall into hands of secretive US tycoon
MORE than 360 care homes will fall into the hands of a secretive American hedge-fund boss who specialises in snapping up struggling businesses.
Tycoon Spencer Haber has over the last two years bought up debt from the struggling Four Seasons care home chain, which is home to 17,000 vulnerable and elderly residents and looks likely to take over the firm outright.
But last night some expressed horror that the futures of these residents could be put into the hands of a mystery firm that few know anything about.
It is understood senior City figures have tried to delve into the background of Haber, 49, and his hedge fund, but so far few details of his intentions have been uncovered.
Four Seasons is thought to be one of Haber’s first investments in the UK, and one of his main bets.
The financier made his fortune at collapsed Lehman Brothers, and real estate finance firm iStar before starting his own hedge fund H/2 Capital Partners in Connecticut in 2004.
He is an expert in buying bad debt, but little is known about Haber’s personal life other than he studied at the University of Pennsylvania and is a director of an animal welfare charity. He is passionate about helping poorly treated animals.
Despite his charitable interests, H/2 has proved a ruthless negotiator in the scrap over Four Seasons with present owner, financier Guy Hands’ group Terra Firma.
Haber is directly involved in the talks, the Mail understands, directing from the US. He also insists on getting an extra 24 lucrative care homes as part of the deal, which Terra Firma wants to hang onto.
Liberal Democrat MP Norman Lamb, former minister of state for care, said: ‘It’s an intolerable situation that responsibility for huge numbers of very vulnerable people could be in the hands of an organisation that we know nothing about. The Care Quality Commission could seek to broker a resolution to this and ultimately I think they have got a responsibility to get it sorted.’
H/2 Capital Partners is owed around £525m from Four Seasons and will take control under a restructuring deal yet to be agreed. Last night H/2 and Four Seasons were still battling how to defer an interest payment due on Friday that it cannot afford. Terra Firma will also need to agree. If no agreement is reached, H/2 could put Four Seasons into administration.
H/2 has invested around £29bn since it was set up, including £2.8bn in healthcare. The firm says it invests on behalf of leading institutional investors, including pension funds, sovereign funds and other institutions.
H/2 has put forward a restructuring plan for Four Seasons that includes installing former chair of Barchester Healthcare Baroness Ford as chairman. Haber has defended his motives in taking over Four Seasons.
He said last month: ‘I firmly believe that with the right stewardship, enterprises like Four Seasons best serve their investors when they best serve their residents. Responsible private capital understands the primacy of resident care and peace-ofmind for their families.’
He added: ‘Four Seasons’ dedicated managers and employees are more than capable of setting an example here, right across the social care community. ‘While we share a mission with these talented individuals, it is their role – and not ours – that holds the consequence and the challenge.
‘We just need to do the easy part, which is to enable them by providing the bedrock of financial stability, aligned incentives, and a fair cost of capital that enables the group to carry out the solemn responsibility of caring for 17,000 vulnerable people.’