Bridgepoint sells Robinia

Barclays Private Equity has acquired care services business Robinia in a secondary management buyout from Bridgepoint for £80m taking a majority stake in the business. LDC, the mid-market private equity provider, is expected to co-invest alongside Barclays Private Equity. Bridgepoint is reported to have made a money multiple of more than two times its original investment.

Bridgepoint invested in the company in September 2003 in a £50m transaction. Bank of Scotland provided acquisition debt as well as committing development funding for future growth plans.

Founded in 1995 and headquartered in Bath, Robinia is an established and experienced provider of care and support to People with Learning Difficulties (PLD) including complex needs such as Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome. It is one of the few businesses to have a specialist adult autism service. The company is the third largest operator of LD beds in the UK with 539 beds in a portfolio of 79 homes located across the Midlands and North, South, South East and London.

According to data from CMBOR, co-founded by Barclays Private Equity and Deloitte, healthcare is one of the hottest sectors in the private equity industry. It reached a record value of £4.4bn in 2005 from just 31 deals, three times the previous high of £1.5bn in 2000.

Bridgepoint’s other healthcare investments include Attendo, the elderly care home operator in Sweden; Medica, the French nursing home operator in France; Alliance Medical, the operator of diagnostic imaging equipment and Tunstall, a provider of personal and home telecare systems to the elderly.