Gresham successfully exits Blue Group International

Gresham Private Equity, the UK mid market private equity specialist, today announces that it has successfully exited Blue Group International through the sale of the business to HCL plc (formerly Healthcare Locums Plc) in a deal worth £12m. Gresham made a return of 2.6 times its investment.

Blue Group, comprising Bluecare Social Care and Bluecare Medical, is one of the fastest growing recruitment companies in the UK, and specialises in the placement and management of qualified social workers and social care professionals within the public, private and voluntary care sectors. The business supplies over two-thirds of all local authorities and is recognized as a market leader in the social work recruitment sector.

John Zafar, Chief Executive of Blue Group International comments: “Since making their investment, Gresham and the management team at Blue Group have forged a very strong and successful partnership, which has been a key contributory factor in developing the business into the market leader that it is today. This partnership has also been the foundation of the process of creating and realising shareholder value.”

Ken Lawrence, Managing Director at Gresham adds: “Since our initial investment in 2001, we have worked closely with the team to restructure and develop the business into a market leader. We believe the strategic fit with HCL to be excellent and we wish them every success for the future.”

This is the 2nd exit in 1 week for Gresham, who also sold Individual Restaurant Company to Bank Restaurant Group for £41m generating a return of 2.3 times their investment.