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      Investors are making a fortune from UK healthcare. Why is nobody holding private equity to account? | David Rowland

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Wednesday, 13 March - 10:05

    From care homes to cancer treatment, millions are being siphoned out of the system every year – usually to the detriment of services

    If you are in a vulnerable situation in the UK because of your age, personal circumstances, violent crime or ill health, there is a strong chance that somebody somewhere – most likely an offshore private equity investor – will be making a profit out of your health and care.

    In the case of older people needing care towards the end of their life, companies backed by private equity funds have been generating significant returns for decades. Our research at the Centre for Health and the Public Interest shows that around £1.5bn is taken out of the care home sector each year in the form of different types of returns to shareholders and investors.

    David Rowland is the director of the Centre for Health and the Public Interest

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      Private equity groups collecting millions to run UK government-funded sexual assault referral centres

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Wednesday, 13 March - 10:00

    Exclusive: Charities concerned at profits being made from government contracts to help victims

    Millions in taxpayer funds are being paid to private equity-backed firms to provide specialist support services for rape and sexual assault victims, with charities concerned at the profits being made by investors on these contracts, the Guardian can reveal.

    The government contractor G4S and Mountain Healthcare Ltd, which is ultimately owned by a private equity group set up by the former boss of the outsourcing group Capita, run 26 of the 50 NHS- and police-funded centres in England that support thousands of child and adult victims of sexual assault.

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      The Guardian view on nurseries: build playgrounds for toddlers, not investors | Editorial

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Tuesday, 12 March - 18:34 · 1 minute

    Opaque ownership structures and bumper profits point to an early years sector gone wrong

    Childcare and nursery education in England is in the process of being transformed. Following ministers’ decision to make it a priority as a way to tackle labour shortages, public funding is set to double by 2027-28 . In a few years 80% of all early years places will be government-funded, compared with 50% today. At the same time, pressure on providers caused by long-term underfunding and rising costs has led to a situation in which private equity and investment company-backed nurseries are expanding at the expense of everyone else.

    New research showing that more than £1 in every £5 spent at such nurseries ends up as profit is one thing that is wrong with this situation. Another is their level of debt, which is typically far higher than average (between 2018 and 2022, investment firm backed nurseries had debts on average three times their income – more than twice the ratio of other private nurseries). A third is weak regulation, in some cases making accounts hard to scrutinise. These factors combine to increase the risk of a business failure, with the potential to severely disrupt the lives of young children (for comparison, imagine the impact of a reception class closing down).

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      Vet practices: the competition watchdog is barking up a promising tree

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Tuesday, 12 March - 18:13

    Independent owners are declining fast in a sector now dominated by big companies and private equity

    “Multiple concerns,” said the Competition and Markets Authority about the veterinary practice market . You bet. Semi-captive customers, rapid consolidation, lack of transparency and inflation-beating prices do not necessarily add up to a conspiracy against the consumer, but such a market is definitely worth a closer look. That’s before one mentions, as the CMA didn’t explicitly, the presence of the private equity industry, which tends to have a nose like a bloodhound for easy pickings.

    The mini-revelation in the CMA’s initial review of the sector was how far, and how quickly, the independent veterinary practice has declined as the dominant ownership model. From only 10% in 2013, almost 60% of veterinary practices are now owned by large companies. Welcome to the world where two quoted companies, Pets at Home and CVS Group, three-backed by private equity plus one owned by pet food (and chocolate) maker Mars are the big names. Rather than big splashy deals, this has mostly been a case of individual practices steadily selling up.

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      Revealed: the bumper profits taken by English private nursery chains

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Tuesday, 12 March - 14:00

    With more public money on its way, Joseph Rowntree Foundation calls for commitments on value for money and staff pay

    Campaigners are calling for tougher regulation of the childcare market to safeguard taxpayers’ money, as new analysis shows more than £1 in every £5 spent at English nurseries backed by large investment companies ends up as profit.

    Jeremy Hunt announced an extra £500m funding at last week’s budget , to help meet his promise of 30 hours a week of free childcare for the under-threes by September next year – which he hopes will bring 60,000 parents back to work.

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      US firm Carlyle to take control of Southend airport after debt deal

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Wednesday, 6 March - 08:16


    Essex-based hub to pass into hands of private-equity firm after agreement on £194m debt

    Southend airport is to pass into the control of the US private-equity group Carlyle after an agreement to settle a debt, in the latest takeover of a UK firm by a foreign company.

    The London-listed aviation group Esken, formerly Stobart Group, said it had reached a deal over the £193.75m debt that its subsidiary London Southend airport owed to Carlyle Global Infrastructure Fund (CGI).

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      ‘Profiteering off children’: care firms in England accused of squeezing cash from councils

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Saturday, 2 March - 18:00

    A local authority leader claims private equity groups are exploiting vulnerable youngsters in care homes in the pursuit of profit

    Care companies are insisting on unnecessary and expensive support packages for vulnerable children to boost their profits, a council leader has claimed.

    Barry Lewis, the Tory leader of Derbyshire county council, said that former family-run businesses acquired by private equity groups were trying to get “as much cash as possible” out of local authorities.

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      US owner of Waterstones tables higher offer for Currys

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Tuesday, 27 February - 13:14

    Elliott Advisors ups its offer to £750m but board of high street electrical goods chain likely to reject new bid

    The US investment group Elliott Advisors has reportedly tabled an improved takeover offer for the UK electrical goods chain Currys, worth as much as £750m, after being rebuffed earlier this month.

    Elliott, which owns the book chain Waterstones and has a controlling stake in the food chain Wasabi, raised its offer to between 65p and 70p a share, although this is likely to be rejected again by the Currys board, Sky News reported .

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      How Ukraine’s largest private equity firm raised $350m during a war

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Friday, 23 February - 10:00

    CEO says doing business while at ‘the centre of a hurricane’ is crucial to keeping the country afloat

    Business live – latest updates

    For Lenna Koszarny, the Canadian-born head of Ukraine’s largest private equity group, Horizon Capital, there was never any question of stopping work or leaving the country when Russia launched its February 2022 assault. But continuing to do business took resolve. “You’re in the centre of a hurricane,” she said.

    There have been 7,400 missile and 3,900 drone attacks on Ukraine since the war began, and working through them is part of daily life. “The air raid sirens go off, you go into the bomb shelter, you take your computer … and you keep working until the all-clear comes.”

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