Bridgepoint exits Healthcall

Following its realisation of branded jeans company Lee Cooper, Bridgepoint Capital has announced the sale of another of its portfolio companies, Healthcall. Nestor Healthcare Group has bought the provider of primary healthcare services from Bridgepoint for GBP110 million.

Bridgepoint originally backed the management buyout of Healthcall in a public to private transaction in February 1998 for a total consideration of GBP65 million, whereby Bridgepoint provided equity funding of GBP22.5 million. Senior debt of GBP27.5 million and GBP7.5 million of mezzanine finance were provided by Royal Bank of Scotland and RBS Mezzanine, respectively.

Healthcall is a provider of out-of-hours GP services in the UK and operates

from a network of primary centres covering around 100 towns and cities across the UK. It also provides a wide range of healthcare services including screening and assessments related to government compensation to miners;

the provision of forensic medical services; a nursing care agency; and domiciliary eyecare for the elderly.

The company employs around 2,800 people and is headquartered in Milton Keynes. Turnover for the year to December 31, 2000 was GBP83.9 million.

The sale is the third exit for Bridgepoint Capital in the same number of months. Last month, the firm sold Lee Cooper to Matalan for GBP45 million and June saw the sale of Sealine International, the UK luxury yacht manufacturer, to US-based Brunswick Corporation for $68 million.

NM Rothschild & Sons and Travers Smith Braithwaite (legal) acted as advisers to Bridgepoint in the deal.