Carlyle Group acquires health-care firms in Australia and Brazil
By Thomas Heath
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
The Carlyle Group continued its flurry of dealmaking with two globe-spanning, health-related investments Monday, one in Australia and the second in Brazil, as the District-based private equity firm continues to be one of the most active in the buyout business.Carlyle and private equity giant TPG won a bidding war for Australia's Healthscope, a big player in that country's hospital sector, over rival Kohlberg Kravis Roberts in a deal that valued the company at $2.35 billion. Carlyle and TPG are paying about $5.45 a share for Healthscope.
Carlyle also purchased a controlling stake in Brazil's Qualicorp, an example of its continued interest in the growth potential offered in emerging markets. Carlyle's Brazil investment is about $1.2 billion, according to sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the amount had not been officially released.
Qualicorp manages private health insurance plans in Brazil, a country that Carlyle has targeted because of rising disposable income in its middle class. That growing wealth has led many middle-class consumers in Brazil to seek to augment their government health-care plans with private coverage.
"As the middle class grows, they demand services and products that were previously beyond their reach," Carlyle managing director Fernando Borges said in a statement.
Private equity analysts said the two deals announced Monday make sense for Carlyle.
"Health care is a sector that Carlyle has been in for a long, long time. It's one of their core sector focuses," said Dan Primack, editor-at-large for Private Equity Hub, which tracks the private-equity business. "This is more a reflection that the leveraged-buyout market is returning. Carlyle is one of those firms that is lucky to have a lot of capital left to do deals."
Last week Carlyle agreed to acquire New York-based vitamin maker NBTY for $3.8 billion. Also, Carlyle and a partner firm announced this month that they were selling their interests in MultiPlan, a health-care management company, to two private-equity firms in a deal that values the business at $3.1 billion.
On July 8, Carlyle invested $175 million in a Thailand-based livestock feed producer. On June 29, Carlyle announced a plan to invest $190 million in an Asian fisheries company. And on June 21, the company announced it was going to take public the Booz Allen Hamilton government consulting firm.
Carlyle has more than $90.5 billion under management, spread across 67 funds. Its biggest holdings include Hertz, Dunkin' Donuts and the nursing home giant HCR ManorCare.
Source: washingtonpost.com
