ALG advises on multi-million pound investment into 3fivetwo Group
A&L Goodbody (ALG) was proud to advise our client, 3fivetwo Group, on its multi-million growth capital investment by 57Stars and Foresight Group. The deal marks the first direct investment into Northern Ireland by two of the world’s largest equity houses in New York and London.
Our Corporate Partner in Belfast, Mark Thompson, explained:
"Having advised 3fivetwo Group – arguably one of Northern Ireland’s leading and most successful indigenous companies – for over a decade now, we were thrilled to play our role in supporting this next important phase in their continued growth journey.
Driven by a growing demand for 3fivetwo’s service in Ireland, north and south, this injection of growth capital will enable the Group to provide additional capacity, including beds and laminar flow theatres, at its Kingsbridge hospitals in Belfast and Sligo.”
The investment will also enable the provision of more services in imaging, orthopaedics and specialist services, such as cardiac surgery, and the expansion of medical training and optometry services through acquisition and partnership.
3fivetwo is the only private healthcare group on the island of Ireland to have hospitals in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, as well as a presence in London.
Suresh Tharma, joint CEO, explained:
“57 Stars and Foresight believe in our vision and support our aspiration to be a world leading healthcare company. We realised that our goals were aligned from an early stage and we are immensely proud of the faith they have shown in us.
They want to make a return on their investment for their investors, naturally, but they also want to make a difference to the lives of the people of Ireland in the process. Our plans are ambitious and set a path for achieving both objectives.”
Ashok Songra, joint CEO of 3fivetwo Group, continued:
“Our ambitions are to extend our reach by providing 5-star medical services beyond this island to the rest of the UK and other parts of the world.
57 Stars and Foresight are ideally placed to assist with the scaling up of our business and to open new opportunities which will help us exceed our goals. We have bonded very quickly as a team and look forward immensely to the journey ahead.”
57 Stars, a boutique independent asset manager, is partnered in the investment with Foresight, one of UK’s longest-standing private equity investment houses, who will manage the new fund locally.
The investors, who will be seeking to support other ambitious small and medium sized businesses operating in Northern Ireland, will be taking a minority stake in 3fivetwo Group and both funds will be represented on the board of directors.
Mark added: “That this is the first investment here by 57 Stars and Foresight Group is a strong statement in confidence not only in 3fivetwo Group, but in the island of Ireland as an outstanding location in which to invest and do business.”
Date piblished: 17 April 2019