Bain Capital closes in on Priory

According to reports today, the US buyout investor has been granted a period of exclusivity to pursue its due diligence analysis, with the bid thought to value Priory at around £1bn.  Other private equity firms, believed to include Cinven, Advent International and Blackstone, remain in the frame. 

If the deal goes through it will mark a return to private equity ownership after a five-year gap.  The group was originally acquired in 2002 by Doughty Hanson in a deal worth £371m.

Doughty Hanson exited in mid-2005 via a sale to the corporate and investment banking division of ABN AMRO. The deal was valued at £875m, and represented a return of 5x Doughty Hanson's original investment, or an IRR of 71%.  RBS, the current vendor, inherited the business on its takeover of ABN AMRO in 2007.

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Send to  

• Topics
• Healthcare
• Buyouts
• UK / Ireland
• Royal Bank of Scotland
• Blackstone Group
• Advent International