Bupa deal makes HC-ONE largest care home owner
HC-ONE has completed the £300m acquisition of 122 care homes from Bupa, in a deal that makes it the biggest UK operator of residential homes.
The group, formed out of the collapse of Southern Cross six years ago and run by chairman and former NHS doctor Chai Patel, will expand to about 350 homes with 22,000 care beds through the deal. It has been expanding since being acquired by Dr Patel’s Court Cavendish, Formation Capital and Safanad in 2014.
Over the last three years it has already bought a total of 50 homes from care providers Meridian and Helen Mcardle Care. Bupa retains about 150 care homes and six retirement villages, caring for more than 9,000 residents, with further schemes under construction.
Dr Patel called the takeover of the Bupa care homes the “true highlight of my 30-year career”. He intends to invest £40m in upgrading the acquired homes over the next four years.
He said: “We are building an organisation that residents and families can rely on, one which can withstand future uncertainties.”
HC-ONE was previously the third largest care home provider behind Four Seasons and Barchester Healthcare. It is the latest example of consolidation in social care, a sector under strain from government funding cuts and higher wage bills due to the roll-out of the National Living Wage to the over-25s.
David Hynam, chief executive officer at Bupa UK, stressed the company would remain “a major investor” in the sector.
Bupa has plans to invest more than £120m in refurbishing and building care homes this year, up from £100m in 2016, it said. The sale is subject to regulatory approval.