The Indian giant’s £188.8 million acquisition of Practice Plus Group, Britain’s fifth largest private hospital group, allows it to take advantage of the private pay market.
Indian healthcare group Narayana Health has acquired Practice Plus Group, Britain’s fifth-largest private hospital group and fourth-largest NHS healthcare service provider, for £188.8 million in its first move into the British market.
The Reading-based group, which was founded in 1997, has seven hospitals, three surgical centres, two urgent treatment centres, three musculoskeletal/diagnostic centres and one ophthalmology centre with 330-bed capacity. It has around 1,300 doctors and clinical staff.
Practice Plus Group has been expanding rapidly. Growing at 12% a year, it posted revenues of £229 million last year and has an expected turnover this year of £250 million. Profits have shown similar growth. Adjusted EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization) have jumped from £13 million in 2023 to £16 million last year. It is expected to rise to £20 million this year.
“The acquisition of Practice Plus Group hospitals and surgical centres is an incredibly exciting step for Narayana Health,” said Devi Prasad Shetty, founder and chairman of Narayana Health.
A company presentation seen by Healthcare Today makes clear that the two significant rationales behind the deal were a market shift towards day care procedures and the increasing use of private pay.
Rapid growth
Practice Plus Group was acquired from private asset growth investor Bridgepoint, which had itself acquired the group in 2010 as part of the Care UK healthcare division.
The acquisition price was made up of 60,001 equity shares in Practice Plus Group Hospitals with a face value of £0.02 each. The price per share was £3,146.29.
Narayana Health was founded 25 years ago in Bengaluru by cardiac surgeon Devi Prasad Shetty. It now has a network of 21 hospitals across the country with almost 4,000 doctors.
The new business will be led in the UK by Practice Group’s current deputy chief executive Ross Dowsett. Jim Easton will remain as executive chair of the remaining businesses in Practice Plus Group and take a non-executive leadership role under Narayana Health in its new UK business.
The acquisition includes Practice Plus Group’s secondary care business only, which will separate from its integrated urgent care business, including NHS 111 contact centres and out-of-hours GP services, and from its Health in Justice division, which provides healthcare throughout the justice pathway.
The transaction is expected to close this week.
