Four Seasons closes in on a new debt deal with lenders
THE FUTURE of Four Seasons Health Care, Britain’s largest care homes operator, is set to be decided in the coming days following talks with possible bidders.
Guy Hands’ Terra Firma is believed to be in talks with Four Seasons, as well as a consortium of Patron Capital and Formation Capital.
Four Seasons is trading profitably and the bed occupancy rate is around 89 per cent but it has debts of £780m. Its options include refinancing loans, raising new equity from existing and new investors, or a combination of these options, to ensure it has adequate funds before its debt matures in September.
A spokesman said yesterday that there would be no impact on continuity of care at the firm.
In 2009 Four Seasons halved its debt by exchanging it for equity, a deal that resulted in Royal Bank of Scotland taking close to a 40 per cent stake in the company.
RBS, Terra Firma and Patron declined to comment.