Kingsbridge: £300m paid for majority stake in NI healthcare firm

An investment firm has paid £300m to take a majority share of Northern Ireland’s largest private healthcare firm, the Kingsbridge group.

Kingsbridge operates four hospitals and 11 other clinical facilities in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

The Dublin office of Exponent, a UK private equity firm, has taken control of the business.

Kingsbridge was founded in 2004 by two doctors, Suresh Tharma and Ashok Songra.

They will retain a minority stake in the business, with Dr Tharma becoming chairman of the board of directors.

Exponent will be represented on the board by its managing partner Richard Lenane who is originally from Belfast.

The Kingsbridge management team led by Mark Regan will stay in place.

Mr Regan said the new owners have bought the business to grow it which will involve investing in new equipment and potentially buying other businesses.

“MRIs, CT, cath labs, a host of other diagnostic equipment will come on board. It will be an advancement of our current services which will allow us to reach more of the population across the whole island,” he said.

Kingsbridge employs more than 1,100 staff and engages over 400 medical consultants.

Mr Regan said the change of ownership would not change day-to-day operations for staff.

“I’ve said, you won’t really see a change, we’ve had investors before and this will largely be the same, albeit I expect you’ll see more of Exponent.”

Richard Lenane from Exponent described Kingsbridge as “an exceptional business”.

He added: “We see huge potential for growth in the healthcare sector in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland as demand for accessible and more technologically advanced healthcare services increases.”

When you consider what’s happened to the NHS in Northern Ireland it’s easy to understand why an investor sees potential in Kingsbridge.

Northern Ireland has the worst waiting lists of any part of the UK.

People waiting for procedures such as hip replacements face years of pain unless they can afford to go private.

Free or subsidised medical insurance has become an increasingly common part of the benefits package offered to employees in the NI private sector.

An aging population also means increasing demand for healthcare, whether provided by the health services or private providers.