Ark Home Healthcare has acquired part of Anchor Trust, a not-for-profit housing and home care provider, with the assistance of private equity firms Ashridge Capital and Core Capital.

Ark Home Healthcare has acquired part of Anchor Trust, a not-for-profit housing and home care provider, with the assistance of private equity firms Ashridge Capital and Core Capital.

As part of plans to expand geographically, Ark has paid an undisclosed sum for six of Anchor’s home-care operations across Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax.

The acquisition means Ark, which was established in June 2010, will swiftly take over 14 local authority contracts and 460 staff will transfer in accordance with the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations (TUPE).

Anchor head of transitions, Andrew Railton says, ‘Ark and Anchor have worked closely to ensure the smooth transition of operations both for our customers and staff and we are confident that Ark’s investment will enable the services to thrive.’

Long-standing Anchor Trust was established in 1968 and has 50,000 customers with 1,000 business units and 10,000 employees.

Ark is a specialist domiciliary care company. Since their formation they have set about establishing a family of home care businesses and have five made previous acquisitions.

Ark chief executive Mark Lavery comments, ‘The Anchor operations complement perfectly our growing network of quality home care branches and will enable us to expand the range of services we offer across a broader geographical base.”

The sum Ark paid is unknown, but Ashridge Capital and Core Capital both invest between £4 million and £30 million in businesses valued at between £10 million and £100 million.

Ark, whose headquarters are at Baker Street, London, aims to generate monthly revenues of more than £1.5 million following the acquisition.