Carlyle Group preparing sale of nursing home group Alloheim

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Global alternative asset manager The Carlyle Group is getting ready to sell Alloheim, one of Germany's top three nursing home operators, according to a recent report in the German business daily Frankurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Sources in Frankfurt suggest that Carlyle is discussing the sale and bidding process with a number of investment bankers, among them JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs.

Should the sale go ahead, it will be one of the biggest private equity transactions for some time, with Alloheim being valued at up to €1bn. The Düsseldorf.headquartered Alloheim currently operates 155 nursing homes with 19,000 patient beds, and employs 14,500 staff. In 2015 it had a turnover of €291m and EBITDA of €32.4m.

Carlyle bought the Alloheim group in 2013 from Star Capital, for a price which, although undisclosed, was put by the London-based Financial News at the time at about €180m. Alloheim at the time had 49 nursing homes with just over 6,000 beds located throughout Germany. Since then Carlyle has added considerably to the chain's portfolio through add-ons and acquisitions.

Back in the US, there have been persistent rumours about Carlyle pondering an exit generally from the sector by selling off the Toledo, Ohio-based nursing chain HCR ManorCare, which it bought in 2007. Recent reports from there said it was in discussions with the group's landlord, listed REIT Quality Care Properties, but talks have become bogged down due to payments disputes.

The nursing home and healthcare sector has been one of the hottest in recent months, as investors seek alternative assets to increasingly scarce quality commercial property. Recent similar deals doubtless helping to create benchmarks are the sale of French peer DomusVi, or Germany's Casa Reha or clinic group Schoen. In the case of DomusVi's sale by owner PAI Partners for €2.3bn in June, the company was sold for a multiple of 12 times expected earnings.