TIDMCLDN
RNS Number : 8634E
Caledonia Investments PLC
23 October 2018
CALEDONIA INVESTMENTS PLC
SALE OF CHOICE CARE GROUP
Caledonia Investments plc ("Caledonia") is pleased to announce
the sale of Choice Care Group ("Choice"), a leading provider of
residential and supported living services for people with learning
disabilities and mental health conditions, to iCON Infrastructure
Partners, IV L.P., a fund advised by iCON Infrastructure LLP
("iCON"), an independent infrastructure investment group with
approximately EUR2.5bn of assets under management.
Choice was originally acquired by Caledonia in August 2013 and,
with its support, has implemented an organic growth strategy, which
has increased its residential capacity by some 32%, from 391 to 514
beds. Choice has invested significantly in its head office and
central overhead functions, both of which have helped the business
to retain market leading compliance ratings with the Care Quality
Commission. Throughout the period of Caledonia's ownership, Choice
has been led by Chief Executive Edwina Johnston, who will remain
with the company following the sale.
The transaction values Choice at an enterprise value of
GBP152.5m, of which Caledonia will receive GBP99.4m in cash, net of
fees, for the sale of its 87.4% fully diluted stake. The proceeds
include pre-sale dividends of GBP7.1m.
Choice was originally acquired at a headline valuation of
GBP86.0m, with Caledonia subscribing GBP49.5m in cash for an
initial 97.7% stake. Since then, Caledonia has invested a further
GBP5.4m in the business and, in addition to the pre-sale dividends
referred to above, has received dividend distributions of GBP6.1m.
The investment was held in Caledonia's audited accounts as at 31
March 2018 at GBP81.9m and was revalued at 30 September 2018 to
GBP93.2m. Overall, Choice has delivered to Caledonia a net IRR of
14.3% and a money multiple of 1.9x. The net proceeds will be used
to repay, in part, amounts drawn under Caledonia's committed term
facilities in connection with the recent acquisition of Deep Sea
Electronics Ltd.
Commenting on the sale, Duncan Johnson, Caledonia's Head of
Unquoted Investments, said:
"Caledonia's unquoted strategy is to invest in leading
businesses with quality management teams, seeking long-term
capital. We are delighted with how Choice has grown under our
ownership, enabling it to provide its high quality residential
services to a third more patients than five years ago, and we
congratulate Edwina and her team for their stewardship of the
business during that time. We wish them and the company every
success under their new ownership."
Edwina Johnston, Chief Executive of Choice, commented:
"Caledonia has been a very supportive and involved financial
partner over the past five years, which has enabled us both to
develop new homes and improve the quality of our existing services.
We look forward to continuing to deliver high quality care to our
service users under our new ownership."
23 October 2018
For further information contact:
Caledonia Investments
plc
Will Wyatt,
Chief Executive
Stephen King
Finance Director +44 20 7802 8080
Duncan Johnson,
Head of Unquoted Investments
Media contact:
Tulchan Communications
Tom Murray
Lisa Jarrett-Kerr +44 20 7353 4200
This announcement contains inside information relating to
Caledonia.
END
Notes for editors:
Caledonia Investments
Caledonia is a self-managed investment trust company listed on
the London Stock Exchange with net assets of GBP2.0bn as at 30
September 2018. The company maintains a concentrated portfolio of
international quoted, unquoted and fund investments and has paid an
increasing annual dividend for 51 years.
In the unquoted arena, Caledonia typically seeks to invest
GBP25m to GBP100m in private companies, either on a majority or
minority basis, providing a meaningful presence and growth capital
supporting double-digit operating margins. Its current unquoted
portfolio includes Seven Investment Management (a provider of
discretionary fund management, asset management and self-invest
platform services), Deep Sea Electronics (a manufacturer of
precision engine and generator controls and intelligent battery
chargers), Cobehold (a European unquoted investment house), Cooke
Optics (a UK manufacturer of premium cinematography lenses), Buzz
Bingo (the UK market leading multi-channel bingo operator) and
Liberation Group (a Channel Islands and South West England
integrated pub and brewing business).
For additional information on Caledonia, please visit
www.caledonia.com.
Choice Care Group
Founded in 1992, Choice is headquartered in Bracknell and
currently owns and operates 60 residential community homes across
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Surrey and
Wiltshire. It cares for people with learning disabilities or mental
health conditions, specialising in working with individuals who
have highly complex needs. In addition, Choice provides supported
living services for clients in Berkshire, Hampshire, Surrey and the
Midlands.
Choice employs over 1,800 people throughout its business.
Choice is committed to delivering exceptional outcomes, giving
the people it supports the opportunity to lead a full and active
life within their local communities and continue with life-long
learning and personal development.
For additional information on Choice, please visit
www.choicecaregroup.com.
iCON Infrastructure
iCON is an independent investment group with approximately
EUR2.5bn of assets under management, focusing on privately held
investments in infrastructure assets in Europe and North
America.
iCON's investments span a range of infrastructure sectors,
including water, transportation, energy generation, distribution
and storage. Choice is its first investment in the social
infrastructure space.
For additional information on iCON, please visit
www.iconinfrastructure.com.
Transaction
The sale of Choice was led by Charlie Edwards and Tom Leader for
Caledonia.
PwC (Issy Corbett and Joe Katz) and Osborne Clarke (Mark
Spinner) respectively provided corporate finance and legal advice
to Caledonia.
Neither the contents of Caledonia's, Choice's or iCON's
websites, nor the contents of any website accessible from
hyperlinks on such websites (or any other website) is incorporated
into, or forms part of, this announcement.
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct
Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United
Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution
of this information may apply. For further information, please
contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
END
DISQXLBLVBFZFBZ
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 23, 2018 02:48 ET (06:48 GMT)
Caledonia Investments (LSE:CLDN)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024
Caledonia Investments (LSE:CLDN)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024
