Albion Ventures has exited its investment in mental health hospital Nelson House through an £8 million deal, two years after injecting £4.9 million to fund its development.
The hospital’s buyers, Care UK and Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, are forming a joint venture to land the site.
Located in Hampshire and with a capacity of 32 beds, the hospital provides treatment to male patients aged 18-65. All patients are paid for by the NHS and come from NHS hospitals, as well as private mental hospitals used by the NHS.
Rehabilitation hospital Nelson House was opened in May 2012 though backing from Orchard Portman Hospitals and Albion Ventures. By divesting its holding in the hospital, Albion Ventures is generating a £2 million profit, representing a return of 1.4x original investment and internal rate of return (IRR) of 18.3 per cent.
David Gudgin, partner at Albion Ventures, says that the firm has enjoyed partnering on Orchard Portman.
He adds, ‘We are confident that other similar opportunities exist in this sector as the NHS looks to form additional private sector partnerships and look forward to continuing our involvement in this area.
‘This investment has generated an excellent return for our funds and underlines our sustained ability to identify growth opportunities in the healthcare sector.’
More on Albion Ventures deals:
- Sale of City Screen Group nets Albion Ventures 2.6x return
- Albion Ventures invests £2 million in solar panels
- Albion sells Dexela to PerkinElmer
The sale of Nelson house marks the 15th deal in the healthcare sector for Albion Ventures, of which five are exits in the last five years. In its current guise, 25 per cent of Albion Ventures’ portfolio is in the healthcare sector, including tuberculosis diagnostics specialist Oxford Immunotec, healthcare software-as-a-service business MyMeds&Me and diagnostics and screening company Abcodia.
The business of Albion Ventures was formerly known as Close Ventures. It was acquired by its management in early 2009 from Close Brothers Group and looks to invest between £1 million and £10 million.
