- Need to drive shareholder value
- True value ‘not reflected in full’
- Options include potential sale
Shares in independent healthcare group Spire Healthcare Group (SPI) jumped 21.5p or 10% to a six-month 238p high on news the board was working on options to realise greater shareholder value including a potential sale of the business.
SHAREHOLDERS IN FAVOUR OF A SALE
The firm said it was ‘pleased’ with the progress it had made in implementing strategic and efficiency initiatives, but together with its freehold property and a well-invested asset base, the firm’s worth was ‘not yet reflected by the market in full’.
Therefore, the board is working with its lead adviser Rothschild & Co to start discussions with ‘a number of parties in relation to a range of potential options’ including a possible sale.
Earlier this week it was reported several of Spire’s major shareholders were pressing the firm to put itself up for sale, with a mooted price of 340p, valuing it at around £1.4 billion.
In 2021, Spire rejected a 250p per share takeover bid from Australian firm Ramsay Healthcare after leading investors said the offer was too low.
Spire Healthcare runs 38 hospitals and 50 clinics, medical centres and consulting rooms across England, Wales and Scotland, as well as operating a network of private GPs, providing occupational health services to over 800 corporate clients.
It has a long-standing partnership with the National Health Service, which accounts for around a third of annual revenues and includes an inflation-linked increase each year.
The group’s assets and relationships could be attractive to both US healthcare operators and private equity buyers, who have been struggling to recycle their capital into new investments.
The company said it was not in receipt of any approaches and was not in discussions with any parties in respect of a potential sale of the company at present.
