Former DCC healthcare unit to buy Portlaoise-based Beechfield Healthcare

Vital Healthcare, formerly part of London-listed DCC, has agreed to buy Portlaoise-based wheelchairs-to-stairlifts supplier Beechfield Healthcare for an undisclosed sum.

Industry sources estimated that the deal was valued at more than €20 million.

Beechfield, which was founded 30 years ago and is majority owned by managing director Trevor Flanagan, reported a €2.3 million pretax profit last year, according to its latest set of accounts, filed last week with the Companies Registration Office.

The business will be combined with Vital’s medical supplies company Fannin, broadening the group’s offering across hospital, community and home-care settings, Vital Ireland said in a statement. The deal remains subject to clearance from the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission.

DCC, which is in the process of being acquired by US private equity firms KKR and Energy Capital Partners, sold its healthcare division – comprising Vital and DCC Health & Beauty Solutions – last year to UK-based Investindustrial for an enterprise value of £1.05 billion (€1.26 billion).

DCC was recently renamed DCC Energy after abandoning its conglomerate roots to focus on the energy sector.

“As more care is delivered outside of hospitals in line with the HSE Sláintecare strategy, healthcare providers need trusted partners who can deliver the products, services and support that patients rely on every day,” said Mark Coffey, chief executive of Vital Ireland.

“This proposed acquisition reflects our ambition to become the partner of choice for healthcare providers supporting patients in their homes and communities.”

Flanagan, along with Beechfield commercial director and fellow shareholder James Gargan, will remain on board following the deal. The business – whose activities include community care equipment, acute care and decontamination, sleep medicine, CPAP machines for people with breathing problems when sleeping, and stairlifts – employs more than 40 people.

Alvarez & Marsal acted as lead corporate finance adviser to Beechfield and its shareholders; William Fry acted as legal adviser. Arthur Cox acted as legal adviser to Vital Ireland.

Flanagan previously led a management buyout of the company in 2008.

Vital Ireland is a group of healthcare businesses providing products, services and expertise across medical devices, pharmaceuticals, scientific services and community care. Its companies include Fannin, Iskus and Medisource.