Spire Healthcare Agrees £1.03bn Take-Private by Toscafund-Led Investor Group

Spire Healthcare, Britain's biggest private hospital operator, has agreed to be taken private in a £1.03bn deal led by Toscafund Asset Management, the activist hedge fund founded by Martin Hughes. The agreed offer of 250 pence per share ends a year-long strategic review during which the FTSE 250 company explored a sale with several potential bidders.

The investor group led by Toscafund — which was already Spire's second-biggest shareholder — will acquire the entire business. Spire operates 38 private hospitals and more than 60 clinics across England, Wales and Scotland, including the Claremont hospital in Sheffield and St Anthony's hospital in south London. In 2025 its facilities provided care to 1.36 million patients.

Deal terms and how it came together

The offer values the business at £1.03bn. The announcement follows a lengthy period of negotiation between Spire and Toscafund. Before that, Spire had been in talks with the private equity firms Bridgepoint and Triton, but both pulled out in March 2026. Spire first announced a strategic review in September 2025, telling investors it was in discussions with several parties to explore a potential sale of the business.

• Offer price: 250 pence per share
• Implied valuation: £1.03bn
• Lead investor: Toscafund Asset Management, founded in 2000
• Network: 38 hospitals and more than 60 clinics in England, Wales and Scotland
• Patients treated in 2025: 1.36 million

Shares in Spire, a member of London's FTSE 250 index, rose by 3.2% in early trading on Monday to about 246 pence. The company's biggest shareholder is Mediclinic, a private healthcare group founded in South Africa.

Why the buyer wants to take Spire private

Martin Hughes, who founded Toscafund in 2000 and is known in the City for his vocal activist approach — a reputation that earned him the nickname "the Rottweiler" — said his fund "has a track record of backing successful healthcare businesses to grow and improve". He argued that as a private company, Spire would have "the freedom to plan for the long term and the agility to move faster: investing in its hospitals and people, putting the latest technology to work and setting new standards in patient care".

Debbie White, Spire's chair designate, said the company had faced "much volatility" in its trajectory without a buyer, squeezed by rising costs such as national insurance contributions and a higher minimum wage. She added that Toscafund, as an experienced healthcare investor and the company's second-largest shareholder, has deep knowledge of the business and has assured the board that it is committed to providing the highest standards of care to patients.

Context: private healthcare and the NHS

The deal comes amid concerns about the creeping privatisation of the UK's health service. A study published in April found that private companies providing services to the NHS — including healthcare and consultancy — have together made £1.6bn in profit over the past two years. Spire's hospitals and clinics are part of the UK's private healthcare sector, which operates alongside the NHS.

Company details

Spire Healthcare (Spire Healthcare Group plc) is Britain's biggest private hospital operator, running 38 hospitals and more than 60 clinics across England, Wales and Scotland. Official website: spirehealthcare.com. Source: The Guardian.