Care home firm Orpea, under pressure over practices, gets new financing (updated)

Clariane SE

13/06/2022 07:03

(Adds detail and background)
    PARIS, June 13 (Reuters) - French care home company Orpea
 ORP.PA , under pressure over its business practices and how it
runs its homes, said on Monday it had approved new financing
that would result in a new drawdown for it of 250 million euros
($260 million).
    "The agreement reached is therefore hugely beneficial to the
ORPEA Group and to all its stakeholders, including in particular
its 255,000 residents and patients, 71,676 employees and
creditors," added the company. 
    Orpea said this month that an audit had found evidence of
financial wrongdoing but did not support all allegations against
the company. Police also searched Orpea's headquarters this
month.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2XV0EE
    A 62-page report by auditors Grant Thornton and Alvarez &
Marsal said Orpea had inflated labour expenses and made
suspicious large payments to third parties, confirming some
claims in "Les Fossoyeurs" ("The Gravediggers"), a book
published this year. 
    Shares in Orpea and rival Korian  KORI.PA  have slumped this
year since publication of the book. The author wrote that there
had been severe lapses at an Orpea centre in a wealthy Paris
suburb. 
    This sparked a nationwide debate on nursing conditions for
the elderly.
    Korian has also denied any widespread wrongdoing and has
said it would always co-operate with authorities.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nFWN2XU0R9  
 
    ($1 = 0.9531 euros)

 (Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Bradley Perrett)
 ((sudip.kargupta@thomsonreuters.com; +33 1 49 49 53 84;))