Christchurch Group has acquired Woodlands MS Society Respite Care Centre with help from buy-and-build backer Sovereign Capital.

Private equity firm Sovereign Capital’s portfolio company Christchurch Group has purchased Woodlands MS Society Respite Care Centre.

Sovereign initially acquired Christchurch Group in September 2010, when the residential care for adults with an acquired brain injury business was called Christchurch Court, for an undisclosed amount.

Back then Sovereign was backing the management team led by managing director Sheena Kidd, along with the newly appointed non-executive chairman Paul Preston, finance director David Roth and medical director Derar Badwan.

The current deal sees the Woodlands facility bought from the MS Society after the organisation took the decision to move away from the direct provision of respite care.

Christchurch’s acquisition of Woodlands also follows on from the opening of its latest facility in Bedford as well as the development of its Northampton base.

Kidd says that Christchurch is ‘really excited’ about the future development of Woodlands.

She adds, ‘We have been able to expand existing services, develop new areas of support for the existing MS client base and introduce new rehabilitation services for a range of neurological conditions.’

Sovereign Capital’s last deal came when it sold LM Funerals, a business which it helped form, to a group of new private equity investors.

A consortium including Duke Street, Babson Capital Europe and Metric Capital Partners acquired LM Funerals for £37.5 million, a 3.4x return on its initial investment.