HC-One named as UK’s largest elderly care provider
HC-One has become the biggest provider of elderly care in the UK after a string of acquisitions, according to new data from Savills.
The provider now operates 22,000 beds, surpassing rival operators Four Seasons, Barchester, Bupa and Care UK. It marks a 78% increase over the past five years. Savills noted that this was driven by deals including the purchase of 110 care homes from Bupa last year, which was the largest deal in the market.
However, the “big five” operators have lost market share over the five-year period, falling to 13% this year from 16% in 2014.
HC-One has become the biggest provider of elderly care in the UK after a string of acquisitions, according to new data from Savills.
The provider now operates 22,000 beds, surpassing rival operators Four Seasons, Barchester, Bupa and Care UK. It marks a 78% increase over the past five years. Savills noted that this was driven by deals including the purchase of 110 care homes from Bupa last year, which was the largest deal in the market.
However, the “big five” operators have lost market share over the five-year period, falling to 13% this year from 16% in 2014.
The “big five” now operate 62,000 care beds in total, 11,000 fewer than five years ago.
Alongside this, the “upper tier” (those ranked between 6th and 15th in the market) and the “middle tier” (ranked from 16th to 30th) are catching up with the largest players. These categories respectively account for a 9% and 7% share of the market.
Chris Wishart, director of healthcare transactions at Savills, said: “It is getting tighter at the top with the upper and middle tiers closing in on the big five, many of which operate assets built before 2000.
“This means that unless properties have been fully refurbished in recent years, they are likely to be more dated, with smaller rooms and inferior amenities.
“Over the last 10 years we have seen a number of smaller operators develop high quality schemes with best in class facilities that have presented strong competition. Moving forward this could result in further M&A activity within the sector, as the more established operators look for opportunities to increase their market share.
“Furthermore, the ageing population continues to put pressure on demand levels across the UK. Our research shows that the number of beds only increased by 0.9% between 2014 and 2019, while the population aged over 85 grew by 9.1% during the same timeframe, highlighting the growing prospects for growth within the sector.”
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