Carlyle acquires healthcare staffing firm NIC for $149m
Carlyle has acquired Tokyo-based medical staffing services firm NIC Corp. for JPY11.5 billion ($149 million). The investment was made from its JPY165.6 billion yen-denominated Carlyle Japan Partners II fund, which targets mid-sized companies. It is the only yen-denominated vehicle managed by a major private equity buyout firm.
According to Reuters, Carlyle - which worked with company management on the transaction - will commit JPY7 billion in cash and borrow an additional JPY5.4 billion from Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. The capital will bolster NIC's cash supplies after a period of muted earnings. The company's Tokyo-listed shares are down 10% so far this year.
NIC, which provides administrative and staffing services to Japan's medical, pharmaceutical and wider healthcare industry, has been in operation since 1965.
This is Carlyle's second big-ticket deal in Japan this year. In March, the firm acquired 96.56% of steel bearing parts maker Tsubaki Nakashima from Nomura Principal Finance for an estimated $856.9 million, marking the largest private equity deal in Japan in a year and-a-half.
Prior to that deal, the largest private equity buyout in recent years was Bain Capital's purchase of call centre Bellsystem24 Inc. for $1.46 billion in December 2009.
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