Spire Healthcare has agreed a £1bn bid from Ramsay Health Care to acquire the business and create a combined operator of more than 80 private hospitals and clinics across the UK.
Ramsay said it intends to engage with the competition regulator on the deal and noted that as part of the process it may be required to sell certain hospitals or clinics.
The deal, which was announced yesterday following agreement by both boards, will purchase all Spire shares at 240p each – almost 25% higher than the 193p at close on 25 May.
Spire was founded in 2007 with the acquisition and re-branding of 25 Bupa hospitals and now owns 39 hospitals and eight clinics, employees 14,200 colleagues and treated 750,000 patients in 2020.
The firm claims to be the largest independent provider by volume of knee and hip operations in the UK.
Ramsay UK has a network of 34 acute hospitals and day procedure centres, treats 200,000 patients per year and employs more than 7,600 people.
The Ramsay Group is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange valued at A$14.9bn (£8.2bn), is split across four global regions of Australia, Europe, UK and Asia, and employs more than 77,000 people.
Extend capabilities and expand services
Ramsay Healthcare UK CEO Dr Andy Jones said it was an exciting and significant day for the businesses.
“Our proposed combination with Spire will create a leading private healthcare provider in the UK with a comprehensive, high quality and wider-reaching footprint to services,” he said.
“We will be able to extend our capabilities in terms of infrastructure, equipment, expertise and teams, and learning from each other to ensure we continue to deliver outstanding healthcare.”
He continued: “Together Spire and Ramsay should be well positioned to expand service provision to a greater number of patients including those on longer waiting lists as a result of Covid-19.
“This is just the first step on the journey and our focus remains on ensuring the ongoing access to healthcare by patients with no disruption to services.”
“I want to thank everyone at Ramsay and Spire for their remarkable dedication during this past year and continued support.”
Justin Ash, CEO of Spire said he was immensely proud of the Spire business and the tremendous efforts of colleagues.
“Spire has made significant progress towards the strategic goals laid out in 2018, including a material improvement in CQC ratings, strong growth in private payor income, and, more recently, has showcased its strengths and capabilities through its partnership with the NHS during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The highly complementary combination of Spire and Ramsay presents a unique opportunity to accelerate this progress, will increase choice to private and NHS patients across the UK and will offer a platform where our colleagues, consultant partners, businesses, and broader stakeholder group, including the NHS, can continue to deliver a positive difference to patients.”
