Terra Firma linked with Four Seasons deal
BUYOUT firm Terra Firma Capital Partners, the business led by serial deal-maker Guy Hands, is reportedly a leading contender to buy Cheshire-based care homes business Four Seasons Healthcare.
Terra Firma, which lost around £1.75bn after buying record label EMI at the top of the market in 2007, is in the final round of bidding for Wilmslow-based Four Seasons, The Telegraph said.
The business, which is the country’s largest private operator of care homes with 25,000 residents at 500 properties, is said to be worth between £820m and £900m.
If Terra Firma is successful it would be the biggest transaction since EMI, and would be seen in financial circles as a statement that the firm is still ‘in business’.
It is being advised on the deal by Goldman Sachs and Barclays Capital, while the other major contenders include a consortium comprising US firms Formation Capital and Patron Capital.
Four Seasons appointed bankers from Gleacher Shacklock and NM Rothschild to examine its options ahead of a deadline in September that will require the business to refinance almost £800m of debt.
The company, which has gone through several; leveraged buyouts in recent years – has also gone through a financial restructuring to address its debt pile. Lenders including Royal Bank of Scotland became shareholders in return for writing off more than £800m of debt.
