Moor Park Capital Reopens Sale & Leaseback Market with c.£700m Refinancing

LONDON --(Business Wire)--

Moor Park Capital Partners, specialists in corporate finance led real estate transactions for institutional and retail investors, today announced that the Firm led and advised the consortium of investors on the c.£700m sale and leaseback of 12 Spire Healthcare hospitals. The consortium of investors included Moor Park and a small group of very large institutional investors, based in Malaysia and the US.

Spire Healthcare is the second largest private hospital provider in the UK and the refinancing relates to part of its loan facilities on 12 of its 38 hospitals across the UK.

Commenting on the transaction, Jagdeep Kapoor, Partner at Moor Park Capital, said:

"This was a complex transaction that is typical of the type of bespoke investment that Moor Park Capital originates, structures and executes on a non discretionary basis for its pool of investors - long term sale and leaseback transaction let to a single tenant with multiple assets that are mission critical to their business.

"For our consortium members, we have created a transparent, asset-backed, fixed income style, inflation protected investment where all covenants are well covered. For Spire Healthcare, we have delivered an innovative solution, with low leverage, which enables them to inject over £700m of new capital into their business and to halve their proforma consolidated net debt, despite the challenging market conditions."

Rob Roger, Chief Executive Officer of Spire Healthcare said:

"We are pleased to have completed this transaction, the entire proceeds of which will be used to pay down debt and support the continued development o our business.

"The fact that we have been able to conclude such a sizeable transaction in challenging market conditions is a testament to the quality of our business and the people who work in it, and a great vote of confidence in the long term prospects for Spire Healthcare and UK private healthcare."

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About Moor Park Capital Partners:

Moor Park Capital Partners, led by Gary Wilder, Shemeel Khan and Jagdeep Kapoor specialises in strategically driven, corporate finance led, real estate monetization transactions including sale and leaseback transactions for corporates, governments, financial institutions and municipalities with single tenants and multiple high quality assets in Western Europe. Moor Park Capital acts on a non-discretionary basis on behalf of a pool of investors - both retail and institutional, including Sovereign Wealth Funds - seeking asset-backed, secured fixed income style, inflation protected returns. It originates, structures and manages bespoke investments for its investors. The Moor Park Capital team has extensive European real estate experience and has undertaken or advised on c£20bn of transactions. www.moorparkcapital.com

About Spire Healthcare:

Spire Healthcare is the second largest private hospital provider in the UK, with 38 hospitals and ten clinics nationwide. The company is built on a heritage of almost 30 years' experience running successful private hospitals and offers a full range of integrated surgical, medical and diagnostic services.

The company was formed from the sale of BUPA Hospitals to private equity company Cinven in 2007, followed by the purchase of Classic Hospitals and Thames Valley Hospital in 2008. Spire has since built Spire Shawfair Park Hospital (Edinburgh), Montefiore Hospital, acquired London Fertility Centre, and Lifescan. Since Spire was formed, performance improvements have included:

Multiple Independent Healthcare Awards: 'Medical Practice' (2012) 'Innovation' (2011), 'Risk Management' and 'Nursing Practice' (2010 and 2009), 'Healthcare Outcomes' (2008) 'Infection Control Excellence' (2007)
Increase in percentage of patients rating Spire 'excellent' or 'very good' - from 87% in 2008 to 92% in 2012*
Increase in percentage of consultant surgeons rating Spire 'excellent' or 'very good' - from 51% in 2008 to 78% in 2012*
Increase in percentage of employees who think Spire is a 'great place to work' - from 62% in 2009 to 78% in 2012
EBITDAR uplifts from £127.4m in 2008 to £188.2m in 2011

For further information please visit: www.spirehealthcare.com.

* Rating options include 'excellent', 'very good', 'quite good', 'quite poor', 'very poor' and 'totally unacceptable'