OMERS Acquires UK-Based Lifeways

OMERS Private Equity announced today their acquisition of UK-based Lifeways from August Equity. Purchased for an undisclosed sum, Lifeways provides new opportunities to OMERS in the specialty care market.

 Lifeways has become a market leader in supported living services for adults with learning disabilities. Lifeways services provides users with a more independent life with opportunities to determine exactly how much care and support is delivered. With 33 offices, Lifeways supports more than 3,400 people through services delivered from 6,300 trained staff.

“Lifeways is a business we have tracked for a long time and we are delighted to be working with Paul Marriner and his team. Lifeways perfectly fits our investment criteria: it is a market leader in every respect with a proven track record of top quality service and profitable growth both organic and via acquisitions, in a market with sound long term growth fundamentals. Looking ahead, we believe OMERS PE’s “patient capital” approach is ideal for providing the appropriate support to the Lifeways management team, enabling them to capitalise on the significant growth opportunities in what is a fast growing, but fragmented market,” said Mark Redman, Senior Managing Director & Country Head, OMERS Private Equity, Europe.

As a part of the purchase agreement, Lifeways management has agreed to re-invest monetarily alongside OMERS private equity in an effort to provide continual high quality care. As Lifeways is already a market leader in the specialist care sector, the company’s plans to continually develop business through both organic growth and acquisitions will lead to further opportunities, specifically through consolidating the fragmented sector.

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“We are delighted to be partnering with OMERS PE as we enter the next stage of our development. In OMERS PE we know we have found the right partner who shares our care-focused philosophy and enthusiasm for the industry, understands the long term investment potential of the business and recognises the vital importance of our work to our service users. Our clients and the quality of care and support we provide are and will remain the single most important parts of our business,” said Paul Marriner, CEO of Lifeways.