M&A Partners advises Australian Unity on the acquisition of leading Community Care business, INS Health Care.

Tuesday, 5th August 2014

Australian Unity has announced it will acquire INS Health Care, the home care division of The INS Group. INS Health Care has over 70 staff and 126 home care packages operating in the NSW regions of: Illawarra, Macarthur, Southern Highlands and southern Sydney.

M&A Partners worked with Australian Unity to identify the INS Health Care acquisition opportunity in an extremely competitive market that is currently receiving strong investment interest from private equity and overseas players.

“The community care market is highly fragmented and it was difficult to locate strong businesses with enough scale that were willing to consider a sale, given they are experiencing grow rates of c. 20% p.a. The search process took over 6 months and involved a time intensive national search. Alice Wells M&A. The success of the search was equally due to M&A Partners extensive search efforts and the outstanding reputation Australian Unity have in the market as a trusted and respected provider of high quality healthcare products and services.

Australian Unity Retirement Living Chief Executive Officer Derek McMillan said the acquisition would strengthen the organisation’s existing presence in the southern and western Sydney and Southern Highlands regions where the business already operates a range of home care services including within its Constitution Hill, Greglea and Mt Eymard retirement villages.

As one of the oldest home care providers in Australia, INS Health Care’s expertise will strengthen our ability to offer an extensive range of care services to clients that allow them to maintain their independence and quality of life, whether their home is located in one of our retirement villages or not, said Mr McMillan.

The INS Group is extremely unique and a leader in its geographic segment, M&A Partners and Australian Unity worked closely with MD Claude Rafin to separate the community care business, INS Health Care from the INS Techonology business.NS LifeGuard and INS Technologies delivera suite of innovative programs that utilise technology to drive efficiencies and improve the care and monitoring of customers including: Tele-Care, Medical Alarms, Tele-Health, Virtual Care, E-Health and other services and health technologies.

INS Group’s Managing Director Claude Rafin said he will be working closely with Australian Unity to ensure a smooth transition for staff and clients and that the sale of INS Health Care will allow The INS Group and particularly INS LifeGuard to invest significantly in core growth areas, create additional employment and other opportunities in the Group; and bring tangible improvements to the wellbeing of clients and communities across Australia.

The transaction is expected to be completed next month.