US hedge fund considers bid for Four Seasons Health Care
A US hedge fund is considering making a formal offer for the UK’s second biggest care home operator after it collapsed into administration earlier this year.
Davidson Kempner Capital Management is preparing to make a bid for the parent company of Four Seasons Health Care, Sky News reported.
Read more: Four Seasons appoints administrators
The hedge fund, which is a landlord to some Four Seasons properties, will be pitted against long-standing creditor H/2 Capital Partners. H/2 has been seen as the likeliest buyer of the care home chain.
Four Seasons’ holding company Elli Investments and Elli Finance appointed administrators Alvarez & Marsal in April this year after talks to reduce the firm’s debt pile failed.
The administrators said they hoped to complete a sale by the end of September.
Other bidders are thought to have expressed an interest in the company.
“We are very encouraged by the levels of interest and active engagement from bidders and reiterate that nothing has changed in terms of our aim that the process achieves a whole group solution,” a Four Seasons spokeswoman told Sky News.
Read more: Four Seasons gets investment from H/2 Capital
The care home operator employs around 20,000 members of staff and serves around 17,000 residents and patients in more than 250 properties across the UK.
Private equity firm Terra Firma, owned by financier Guy Hands, put the company up for sale in October last year.