Japan's J-Star buys nursing care business

Platia, which was set up in 2003 and generates annual revenues of approximately JPY1.5 billion, runs one elderly nursing home, two day care centers and two offices that coordinate home visits by nurses. It plans to open another facility in July, taking the total capacity to 117 rooms.

At present the business is concentrated in Osaka and J-Star sees opportunities for growth through bolt-on acquisitions and potential synergies with another of its portfolio companies, Nurse Call. Acquisitions efforts are likely to focus on group homes in high population areas such as Tokyo and Osaka, where demand is high but penetration rates are low.

The private equity firm noted in a statement that Japan had 4.62 million people with dementia in 2010. Of these, 2.8 million were classified above level two in terms of elderly life independence, which is Platia's target market. The number of dementia sufferers is expected to reach 6.31 million by 2020 and 7.3 million by 2025.

J-Star acquired Nurse Call - which operates nursing care stations and a hospice facility for patients with cancer and other late-stage diseases - in 2014. In making the purchase, it also consolidated another similar business, known as Kairos, under the Nurse Call brand and appointed the Kairos founder as CEO.

Previous investments in the space include in-home care services provider HCM Corporation, which was sold to Alshok Group in 2014, generating an 8x money multiple.

The latest investment came from J-Star No.2 Investment, a (JPY20.4 billion) $205 million vehicle which reached a final close in 2013. Resona Bank, Oh-Ebashi LPC & Partners and KPMG all advised on the deal.

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• Topics
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• North Asia
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• healthcare
• Japan
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