Liverpool healthcare specialist acquires Affinity Workforce

Ian Munro, left, and Tristan Ramus, of CRG

CRG has acquired Affinity Workforce, for an undisclosed sum.

Prescot-based CRG operates in the healthcare and social care staffing market, while Birmingham-based Affinity is a provider of education, health and social care staffing.

Ian Munro and Tristan Ramus of CRG, concluded the deal with the London office of private equity investor Endless.

The acquisition sees CRG shareholders Ian Munro, Tristan Ramus and Jamie Webb leading the next step of Affinity’s transformation and growth plans commenced under Endless’ ownership.

Affinity will complement the portfolio of businesses within CRG by incorporating the well-established brands of CER, Monarch Education, Medicare First and Team24, together employing more than 400 staff and delivering £100m of revenue.

As well as scaling up CRG’s existing healthcare and social care offering, the acquisition provides CRG with one of the UK’s leading staffing providers within the education sector.

This diversification will further enhance CRG’s existing services, making the group one of the leading staffing businesses in the UK.

This is the second acquisition undertaken this year by CRG following the recent investment in February of healthcare and social care specialist HCL, which achieved growth of more than 125% in revenue.

This deal will see the group yield revenue of more than £230m, with a workforce exceeding 600 employees and a contractor workforce in excess of 6,000.

Ian Munro, CRG group chief executive and founder, said: “The addition of Affinity to the group brings together two forerunners in their sectors and over 25 years’ combined workforce solutions delivery.

“The coalescence of Affinity’s experience and footprint in education, as well as the health and social care sector, progress our transformation to compete in areas we’ve been contemplating for some time, and to increase the share in our core markets.”

Transactional due diligence was conducted by FRP Advisory and Rob McCarthy, legal support from Chris King, Hemmingway’s Solicitors, and funding for the transaction was provided by Close Brothers.

Andrew Metcalfe, deputy head of sales for Close Brothers, said: “We are delighted to support CRG in this recent acquisition as the business continues to grow and develop.”

Endless were advised by Deloitte (Katie Folwell-Davies), Osborne Clarke (Tim Hewens and Max Millington) and PWC (Mike Seaton).

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