Tenet Healthcare Corporation (NYSE: THC) is selling UK-based Aspen Healthcare Ltd. after only three years of ownership. NCM Healthcare UK Ltd., a subsidiary of NCM Health plc (LSE: NCM), is the buyer, paying $332 million.
Tenet acquired the nine-facility company from Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe (WCAS) in March 2015, for $215 million. The transaction was announced simultaneously with Tenet’s acquisition of a 5o.1% stake in United Surgical Partners International, another WCAS portfolio company, for $425 million.
WCAS, together with other investors, retained a 49.9% interest in USPI at the time of the announcement. On April 26, 2018, Tenet announced that it acquired WCAS’s remaining 15% ownership interest for $630 million. As of that date, Tenet holds a 95% ownership interest in USPI.
Aspen began as a two-hospital system that was acquired by USPI in April 2000, with backing from WCAS.
Aspen’s new owner, NMC Health, provides healthcare services in the United Arab Emirates, Spain, and internationally. It owns and manages approximately 135 healthcare facilities that include hospitals, medical centers, long term care facilities, day surgery centers, fertility centers, and home health services providers.
This is NMC’s first acquisition in the UK, through its subsidiary, NMC Healthcare UK Ltd. This transaction marks Tenet’s exit from the UK.
