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 Jonathan Thomas, CEO Heidi Giles, CFO | +44(0)3300085113 |
| Nominated Adviser and Corporate Broker Panmure Liberum Limited Emma Earl / Will Goode / Mark Rogers Rupert Dearden | +44 (0)20 3100 2000 |
UK Financial PR Adviser 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 health.co.uk
