REG - Optima Health PLC - Optima Health to acquire Care first

Optima HealthAnnouncement

06/05/2025 07:00

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
https://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20250506:nRSF4337Ha&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 4337H  Optima Health PLC  06 May 2025

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to
constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations
(EU) No. 596/2014 as amended by regulation 11 of the Market Abuse (Amendment)
(EU Exit) Regulations 2019/310. Upon the publication of this announcement via
Regulatory Information Service, this inside information is now considered to
be in the public domain.

 

 

Optima Health plc

("Optima", the "Company", and, together with its subsidiaries, the "Group")

 

Optima Health to acquire Care first

 

·    Optima Health to acquire Care first, a leading provider of mental
health services, for a net consideration of £15,000, adding c.£3.7 million
revenue to the Group

·    Acquisition provides Optima with increased scale in its Mental Health
division and will complement its existing Employee Assistance Programme
("EAP") service offering, bringing over 1,000 new customers, and c.40
employees

·    Aligns with strategy of consolidating margin accretive businesses in
areas with significant existing expertise, creating additional growth
opportunities and scale benefits

 

LONDON, UK, 6 May 2025, Optima Health (AIM: OPT), the UK's leading provider of
technology enabled corporate health and wellbeing solutions, today announces
that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the trade and assets of Care
first ("Care first"), a leading provider of mental health services from Priory
Group for a cash consideration of £350,000 (£15,000 net) on a cash free,
debt free basis (the "Acquisition"). The effective date will be 2 June 2025.

The Acquisition will expand Optima Health's scale in the provision of mental
health services, with Care first complementing the Group's existing EAP
service offering. The deal will also expand Optima's customer base with the
addition of over 1,000 new customers, presenting further cross selling
opportunities of other occupational health and wellbeing solutions. Alongside
this, the Acquisition brings additional specialist capabilities with
approximately 40 experienced employees with a substantial network.

 

This Acquisition aligns with Optima Health's strategic focus in the
occupational health sector, consolidating margin accretive and value creating
businesses in areas where we have significant expertise, creating additional
growth opportunities and scale benefits with enhanced operating leverage.

 

Further to the Acquisition, and as previously reported, there are significant
opportunities to accelerate growth, and the Board will continue to evaluate
bolt-on acquisitions and consolidation in the market.

 

Jonathan Thomas, Chief Executive Officer of Optima Health, said: "The
acquisition of Care first demonstrates

our ability to continue to execute on our communicated strategy. The business
is strategically aligned with ours in a market we understand extremely well,
creating opportunities for scale. We look forward to integrating the
businesses and benefiting from the significant additional specialist
capabilities and revenue growth opportunities, as we continue to evaluate
further value-enhancing bolt-on opportunities in the market."

 

Financial considerations

 

Under the terms of the agreement to acquire the entire trade and assets of
Care first on a cash free, debt free basis, Optima Health will pay a
consideration of £350,000 on completion, offset by an apportionment
adjustment of £335,000, meaning a net consideration of £15,000. The
Acquisition will be financed using the Group's existing financing facilities.

 

In the 12 months to December 2024, Care first generated unaudited revenue of
£4.4 million.

 

 

Enquiries

 

 Optima Health                                       +44(0)3300085113

 Jonathan Thomas, CEO                                media@OptimaHealth.co.uk

 Heidi Giles, CFO

 Nominated Adviser and Corporate Broker

 Panmure Liberum Limited                             +44 (0)20 3100 2000

 Emma Earl / Will Goode / Mark Rogers

 Rupert Dearden

 UK Financial PR Adviser                             optimahealth@icrinc.com

 ICR Healthcare

 Mary-Jane Elliott / Angela Gray / Lindsey Neville

 

 

About Optima Health

Optima Health is the UK's leading provider of occupational health and
wellbeing services, directly influencing and improving people's lives for 25
years. Optima Health's incredible team of professionals quickly and
effectively encapsulate client's needs, supporting organisations of all shapes
and sizes. Through tailored solutions and innovative systems, Optima Health
offers unparalleled clinical expertise to its clients. These solutions ensure
that processes are simple and allow its clients to spend more time focusing on
their employees driving a healthy, high-performing workplace. For more
information visit www.optima health.co.uk

 

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
 or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
.   END  MSCPKPBPCBKDBPK