November 2020
Agilitas, the pan-European mid-market private equity firm, is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement to sell Exemplar Health Care (“Exemplar” or “the company”), to a fund managed by the Private Equity Group of Ares Management Corporation (“Ares”), a leading global alternative investment manager. Exemplar is a leading UK provider of high-acuity care to individuals living with complex physical and mental needs. Financial details of the transaction are not disclosed.
Exemplar Health Care provides person-centred, specialist nursing care, offering support to individuals in the UK living with complex physical and mental health needs, where quality of care is paramount. The company’s homes, which are based across Yorkshire, Humberside, the Midlands, the North East and the North West, focus on improving the lives of adults living with mental health conditions, neuro-disabilities, complex dementia, autism and learning disabilities, as well as those suffering from brain injury, spinal injury and stroke. It provides customised, person-centred nursing care, facilitates therapeutic engagement, and aims to succeed where other care providers have failed.
Agilitas backed the buyout of Exemplar in July 2016, and since that time has worked with management to help further improve the company’s quality of care within its homes, and to implement innovations to help bring its vital services to an even greater number of people. These included the introduction of rigorous operating protocols and KPIs focussed on the quality of care; enhanced quality of care home by home reviews; the creation of new risk mitigation systems; and a focus on staff recruitment and development, which included the launch of the “MyExemplar” smartphone app for staff to share ideas and insights. During the four years of Agilitas’s investment, the percentage of homes with good or outstanding CQC quality ratings grew significantly. In addition, Agilitas helped Exemplar’s management team innovate 30 new “step-in and step-out” facilities for service users with a higher degree of independence, which further increased the company’s capacity for bringing care to a greater range of people in need.
Commenting on this announcement, Liam Goddard of Agilitas said: “It has been a pleasure to work with the Exemplar team and to help them have such a positive impact on the lives of so many people. The dedication of the Exemplar staff to their calling has been particularly evident in this challenging year and I would like to take this opportunity to wish them all the best for the future.”
John Whitehead, CEO of Exemplar Health Care, added: “We want to thank the Agilitas team for their important contributions to Exemplar’s work, and their relentless support of our mission to make every day better for those in our care and for their loved ones. We are now excited to begin the next step in our journey with the support of our new sponsors at Ares.”
Martin Calderbank, Managing Partner at Agilitas, highlighted that: “Our investment in Exemplar is a clear example of our focus on supporting companies that answer fundamental human or planetary needs.The partnership between Agilitas and Exemplar has been one that was formed on having a joint, rigorous approach to the pursuit of care quality. We are proud to say that under Agilitas’s stewardship Exemplar’s care became even better, and, through this transformation, the company has improved the lives of many people.”
The closing of the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions.
Media enquiries to: Greenbrook - Alex Jones, James Madsen and Catriona Crellin
+44 20 7952 2000 | agilitas@greenbrookpr.com