Maven Capital Partners completes investment in Acton Banks

Deal done

Maven Capital Partners, one of the UK’s most active private equity houses, has led the management buyout of Acton Banks, a market-leading UK healthcare staffing business.

The deal is Manchester-based Maven’s third investment from its buyout fund, having earlier this year led an investment in Manchester-based hardware designer and supplier UAP, and Glasgow-based John McGavigan, a leader in decorative technology used in the automotive sector.

The transaction, which includes an investment of £9.65m from Maven and a significant investment from the senior management team, will enable Wolverhampton-based Acton Banks to continue to roll out its operating model, further enhance its breadth and depth of service offering to existing clients, and expand into new territories outside the Midlands and the North West.

Acton Banks operates a 24 hour, seven day a week service, placing registered nurses and healthcare professionals throughout the Midlands and North West into nursing homes, NHS hospitals, care homes, residential homes, and rehabilitation centres in both the private and public sector.

Established in 2006, Acton Banks has grown to become one of the largest and most respected healthcare staffing providers in the region.

Demand for Acton Banks’ services remains strong given the continued pressures in the healthcare markets driven by supply and demand for leading healthcare professionals.

The team has built-up a strong network of healthcare professionals across a range of specialisms, which it plans to expand further as part of Maven’s investment.

They differentiate themselves through speed of response, breadth of candidates, personal service and the ability to provide bespoke training for both customers and candidates.

Andrew Ferguson, partner at Maven, said: “We are delighted to have completed the third investment on behalf of Maven’s UK Buyout Fund.

“Acton Banks is a high growth, market leading business in the staffing agency sector with a highly professional and experienced management team.

“Maven will provide the business with committed capital to pursue its growth strategy, with senior management knowing they have a supportive investor backing their strategic growth plans.

“We look forward to working with the company as it continues its regional expansion and seeks to deliver on its ambition to create a nationwide multi-service healthcare business.”

Dharsa Mander, chief executive of Acton Banks, added: “We are really pleased to have an experienced private equity team with sector experience supporting the business – one which supports our vision of creating a much larger leading healthcare services business with an expanded geographical footprint.

“We are well-positioned to invest in our staff and candidates with a view to expanding our offering to the market.

“We have been impressed with the team at Maven and look forward to working with them over the coming years.”

Alantra introduced the deal and advised management on the transaction.

Alantra director, Emmet Keating, who is based in Birmingham and advised on the deal alongside Alantra partner Mark Farlow, said: “Recruitment can traditionally be a tough sector for securing private equity investment.

“However, Acton Banks’ reputation for reliable service, speed of response, breadth of candidates and bespoke training, coupled with systemic demand for agency healthcare workers, has made it a highly attractive investment for Maven.

“With their support and committed capital, Acton Banks is very well placed to build on this momentum and expand to become a nationwide healthcare service provider with a broader service offering.”

He added: “An ageing population, care home occupancy levels of over 90%, and lengthening NHS waiting lists are all driving demand for health and social care workers, and this is set against just 0.5% annual growth in the number of NHS nurses.

“As a result, the use of agency nurses and healthcare assistants, in Midlands-based care homes alone, has grown by around 22% per annum in recent years.”

Other principals and key advisors to the transaction for Maven were: Financial due diligence – BDO; commercial due diligence – CIL; equity legals – Gateley; management legals – Freeths; tax structuring – BDO; management referencing – Argyll Fenton; and insurance – JLT.

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