Housing 21, a national provider of older people’s services with charitable status, is to acquire AIM domiciliary care star Claimar Care for £19 million.

Housing 21, a national provider of older people’s services with charitable status, is to acquire fallen AIM domiciliary care star Claimar Care for £19 million.

The social housing concern has 15,000 sheltered and 1,000 extra care retirement homes throughout England and has been in talks since April with Birmingham-based Claimar, provider of domiciliary care for the old and infirm in the Midlands and North West. The price, accepted by Claimar directors and institutional shareholders with a combined 54.4 per cent of the shares, represents a massive 321.6 per cent premium over Claimar’s 9.25p share price when bid talks started in April, but is a mere fraction of previous peaks.

Floated at 72p three years ago, the then acquisitive Claimar raised £23 million in 2007 at 137p to buy another company, Complete Care. But progress did not go as hoped and Claimar, which lost £831,000 in the six months to March, saw its shares fall to 7.25p at one point.

David Grayson, ‘chair’ of Housing 21, says the deal will ‘significantly advance our ability to offer much greater choice and integrated services to old people across the country’. John Crabtree, Claimar’s chairman, argues Housing 21 ‘represents the right fit for our business’.

Claimar’s shares now stand at a slight discount to the bid, at 36.5p. That values the company at £18.25 million.