Eye hospital firms focus on a sale

Eye hospital firms focus on a sale that could be worth hundreds of millions of pounds

  • A private equity fund backed by Fidelity is working on a potential sale of Optegra
  • Optegra’s hospitals carry out laser eye surgery and also cataract removals  
  • Newmedica is working on a ‘strategic review’ that may lead to the sale of a stake

Two eye hospital firms could be on the brink of changing hands for hundreds of millions of pounds.

City sources said Eight Roads Ventures – a private equity fund backed by Fidelity – is working with advisers from William Blair on a potential sale of Optegra.

Fidelity is one of the world’s largest investment houses.

Optegra's hospitals carry out laser eye surgery and also cataract removals

Optegra’s hospitals carry out laser eye surgery and also cataract removals

Optegra’s hospitals carry out laser eye surgery and also cataract removals in cities including Leeds, Birmingham and Manchester. The firm may be worth £100million.

Meanwhile, City sources said Newmedica, another eye hospital firm, is working with advisers on a ‘strategic review’ that may lead to the sale of a stake in the business.

Entrepreneur Darshak Shah, who co-founded the company in 2007, could be in line for a multi-million-pound fortune after weighing ‘strategic options’ for his business. The firm runs eye hospitals across the country which carry out extensive work for the NHS.

Shah set up the business along with Jeremy Diamond, a consultant ophthalmologist at Bristol Eye Hospital, to tackle long NHS waiting lists.

Eight Roads Ventures did not return calls. Shah declined to comment.

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