Pinsent Masons advises on the sale of Porthaven Care Homes

The deal was led by Partner Joanne Ellis supported by a team comprising Ed Stead, Carl Scott, Catherine Hemsworth, Mike Lakin, Oliver Morgan and Daniel Braithwaite.

In October 2011, Phoenix backed John Storey, the founder and CEO of Porthaven, to build a group of high quality care homes to serve the elderly. During its six year investment period, Phoenix has worked with John and his management team to increase the number of homes fivefold from three to fifteen, through an organic roll-out plan comprising acquiring land and building additional homes. The number of residents living in Porthaven homes has increased from 80 to over 500 during Phoenix’s investment period as a result. Commitment to quality of care has remained at the forefront of what Porthaven does, along with a clear focus on strong governance processes and the recruitment and retention of the very best staff. John Storey will continue to lead and grow the group alongside Fremont.

James Thomas, Managing Partner at Phoenix, said: “We are delighted with the strong growth that Porthaven has achieved during our investment period and with the outstanding care that has been provided to hundreds of elderly residents. It has been a pleasure working with John Storey and his management team, and we wish them every continued success for the future.”

John Storey, founder and CEO of Porthaven, said: “I would like to thank Phoenix for all their support over the last six years. They understood the need to ensure the Porthaven ethos of delivering outstanding care and services to our residents remained at the heart of the business from the outset, and have been hugely valuable business partners. We look forward to continuing this strategy with Fremont, as well as the further development and improvement of Porthaven as we continue to grow.”

Joanne Ellis, Partner at Pinsent Masons, said: “We are delighted to have been on the journey with Porthaven and it’s been a pleasure to work with John and the Phoenix team on this transaction. Our longstanding relationship with Porthaven has been strengthened by the value of our health and social care expertise which has been brought to the table, and also played a vital role for a number of the key features of this deal.”

This is another significant transaction for Pinsent Masons’ healthcare team. The team recently also advised on Charme Capital Partners’ investment in Witherslack Group.