BDO’s Southampton M&A team advised the trustees of Scope on the trade and assets sale of 51 specialist Care & Education services to Salutem Healthcare Limited, an existing specialist care provider in the sector.
In a unique and important precedent transaction for the charity and wider healthcare sector, the services that transferred across included nine specialist education facilities, all of its 30 care homes and 12 day & community services located across England and Wales. The decision to transfer the regulated and day services to another provider was part of Scope’s five-year strategy, Everyday Equality, setting out a clear plan of how it will achieve its vision of changing society so that disabled people have the same opportunities as everyone else.
BDO provided full M&A advisory services and successfully project managed the entire trade and assets sale process of a complex and varied group of specialist services, which included a split exchange and completion. The unique nature of this transaction meant that there were complex and technical legal, tax, property and critically regulatory issues to project manage and resolve, including managing an exchange process involving four care regulators across England and Wales. BDO also worked closely to advise on practical issues for transitioning the services including negotiating an appropriate Transitional Services Agreement, as well as assisting the management team in their representations to the Board of Trustees whilst being sensitive to the requirements of the Charities Act.
In a competitive process which attracted strong interest from a range of trade, housing association, charity and Private Equity parties, Scope selected an existing care provider in which to transfer its services.
As part of this transaction, BDO provided full corporate finance services for the transaction including M&A lead advisory, tax advice and vendor financial due diligence for Scope.
“We were very pleased to have BDO’s assistance throughout our transfer process. Their M&A and TS experience of both healthcare and complex corporate finance transactions proved invaluable in ensuring a successful outcome for Scope, the employees that have transferred and most importantly the customers and students who will continue to receive the high-quality care, support and education that Scope formerly operated. Overall, we were delighted that the M&A team ran a very competitive process that both maximised the value achieved and ensured the continuity of care and quality for our customers and staff.”Peter Crowne, Chief Operating Officer, Scope