TowerBrook Capital Partners, L.P. (“TowerBrook”), a leading international investment management firm, has announced that funds under its control will acquire Independent Clinical Services (“ICS”) from private equity funds managed by affiliates of The Blackstone Group, L.P (“Blackstone”) and will appoint former Capita CEO, Paul Pindar, as Chairman of the Board.
Based in London, ICS is a leading provider of staffing, complex care services and administrative outsourcing for clients in the healthcare sector. Its database of 20,000 on-call temporary healthcare professionals provide a critical balancing service which ensures hospitals and GP surgeries can find key workers with specialist skills at short notice.
The acquisition is made at a time of strong market dynamics for healthcare staffing services in the UK, driven by the need to improve efficiency of service and the continuing emphasis on enhancing quality of patient care at ward level and throughout the NHS.
As part of the acquisition process TowerBrook have appointed Paul Pindar to be Chairman of the ICS Board. Paul brings 27 years of experience in the service outsourcing industry, including 15 years as CEO of Capita, the FTSE 100 outsourcing company. He will assist ICS’s management team, led by CEO Richard MacMillan, in developing the Group’s strategy on technology investment and international expansion.
Commenting on his appointment, Paul Pindar, said:
“I am delighted to be joining the ICS Board at a time of great promise for both the company and the healthcare staffing sector. I greatly admire and respect the management team and I look forward to working with them to grow the business.”
Richard MacMillan, CEO of ICS, said:
“There is a growing demand placed on healthcare services in the UK which means it is critical that the right skills are in the right places. ICS is there to help healthcare service providers find the staff they need to deliver high-quality patient care and we are pleased to be entering a new phase of growth under our new owners.”
Gordon Holmes, Managing Director at TowerBrook, said:
“The opportunity to acquire ICS came about through the increased activity of our London office in the healthcare industry. It fits well with our overall investment strategy to back strong management teams operating in growth markets”
Robert Reid, Senior Managing Director at Blackstone, said:
“We are delighted to have made our investment in ICS. The company has gone from strength to strength in recent years and we look forward to witnessing the next chapter in its story.”
