Freshfields wins £1.5bn hospital auction for Cinven

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has today (18 June) helped secure Cinven’s victory in an intense auction process to buy 26 Bupa hospitals.

The deal saw the private equity house spend £1.5bn on the hospitals, beating off rival bids reportedly from CVC, Blackstone, Terra Firma, PAI and BC partners.

Slaughter and May advised Bupa, with corporate finance partner Simon Robinson leading.

Cinven turned to longstanding advisor Freshfields, with corporate partner David Higgins leading with finance partner Chris Davis. Higgins is one of the partners who manages the Cinven relationship at the magic circle firm.

He also led the team advising Cinven on its 2005 acquisition of Partnerships in Care, the mental-health service-provider, for £552m. Partnerships in Care was just part of the existing medical portfolio that cinched the deal for Cinven.