Advent in £800m bid
ADVENT International has launched an £800m bid for struggling care-home operator Four Seasons Healthcare.
The move comes after weeks of speculation surrounding the firm, which was forced to beg bondholders to extend the maturity of a £600m loan for an extra two years to avoid defaulting on its debt.
The firm, which provides respite care for the elderly and infirm, only restructured its debt nine months ago in a deal that reduced the amount it owed from £1.5bn to £780bn in a debt for equity swap.
It was due to repay bondholders in two months time but is now seeking to extend the loan until September 2012.
Also eyeing the firm is pizza tycoon Hugh Osmond, who is understood to have had a £550m bid knocked back.
Sources close to the firm say it was holding out for a bid closer to the magnitude of the Advent offer.
Osmond is no stranger to bondholder unrest – he was involved with the newly renamed Phoenix Holdings, which saw bondholders revolt over an unpaid coupon.
Advent, Four Seasons and Hugh Osmond were all unavailable for comment.
Meanwhile, industry rival Healthcare at Home is understood to be planning a £500m float next year.
If the float goes ahead, chairman and founder Charles Walsh and chief executive Mike Gordon, who own a majority stake, stand to make a paper fortune.