Integral Diagnostics chair pops up for Partners Group at Cura auction
Former St Vincent’s chief executive and freshly minted Integral Diagnostics chair Toby Hall.
Partners Group is bringing in the big guns as the battle for Fresenius’ Cura Day Hospitals heats up. Street Talk understands the Swiss private equity firm is working with newly elected Integral Diagnostics chairman Toby Hall.
The engagement shows Partners is serious about its tilt, leaving no stone unturned for its run at the doctor-owned day surgery network.
Partners is jostling with London-listed buyout giant Intermediate Capital Group and a Medibank/Macquarie consortium for Cura, which makes $40 million a year at the earnings line and is slated to fetch $500 million-plus for its owner – Frankfurt-listed healthcare giant Fresenius Medical Care. Binding offers are due to sell-side adviser Citi by December 5.
Hall replaced Helen Kurincic as chair of Integral Diagnostics in late September. He has a long history in the healthcare industry, serving as group chief executive of St Vincent’s Health Australia from 2014 to 2022.
He’s been deeply involved in M&A including the acquisition of ABC Childcare from administration, which became Goodstart, and is no stranger to investment banking, having worked as an accountant at Salomon Brothers in London. Hall has also chaired ASX-listed Sterihealth and Mission Australia and is the non-executive chair of Sana Health Group.
As this column has reported, Zug-headquartered Partners is fielding some pointed questions from doctors. The private markets investor acquired a controlling stake in EyeCare Partners for $US2.2 billion ($3.3 billion) in 2019, an optometry and ophthalmology services provider based in the United States. However, doctors have expressed concern with the transaction, particularly its mounting debts, cash burn and CEO turnover. Hall’s presence on the scene could help soothe some of those fears.
Partners is bidding for Cura via its infrastructure unit, Partners Infrastructure. The firm has done its homework on the sector, having made an (unsuccessful) tilt for ASX-listed Healius in 2020.
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