Sweden's Attendo sold by Bridgepoint to Industri Kapital
Attendo, the largest provider of care services for older and disabled people in the Nordic region, has been acquired from Bridgepoint by private equity fund Industri Kapital for an undisclosed sum.
Bridgepoint acquired a majority shareholding in Attendo in February 2005 after it approached Attendo's two largest shareholders to propose the involvement of a private equity sponsor as an alternative funding source to the company's then anticipated IPO. The subsequent acquisition and recommended bid by Bridgepoint valued Attendo at that time at SEK2.2 billion (€245 million).
According to Graham Oldroyd, partner responsible for Bridgepoint's operations in the Nordic region, Attendo was in development phase when Bridgepoint first invested but has grown significantly with total revenue of SEK 2.8 billion in 2006.
“Attendo is now a focussed care service provider with a strengthened market leading position in its home market and a clear leader in the Nordic region. Under Bridgepoint ownership, Attendo disposed of its telecare arm to re-focus the business on its core offering and then went on to make five acquisitions.”
Advisors involved in this transaction included: for Bridgepoint - Goldman Sachs (corporate finance), Mannheimer Swartling (legal), Linklaters (legal), PWC (accounting) and LEK (commercial due diligence); for Industri Kapital – ABN Amro (corporate finance), Roschier (legal), Deloitte (accounting) and McKinsey & Co (commercial due diligence).
Bridgepoint has invested in the care sector in France (in Medica, which it sold to BC Partners in July 2006 in a transaction totalling €750 million) and in the UK (in Robinia, which it sold in January 2006 to Barclays Private Equity in a transaction totalling €115 million).