Verna Group

A good result for everyone was involved when Bolton-based healthcare business Verna Group, was acquired by LGV in 2006 for £60 million in a deal advised by Clearwater.

Despite paying a full price for this top 30 NHS supplier, LGV regards the deal as money well spent. Verna is a well-run, developing business in an expanding sector. Its chief executive, Karen Haslam, is ideally equipped to lead the business to further success after working at Verna for more than 27 years and acquiring a profound understanding of the market.

Employing more than 1,500 people, the £59 million turnover business is poised to continue its success story by extending its market-leading position in hospital infection control and by focusing on the strategic shift of patients and resources to the primary care sector.

The NHS is undergoing fundamental changes in its provision, infrastructure and the standard of care expected by patients and Verna is ideally suited to meet the needs of the newly structured marketplace.

For management, the auction process is often an emotional white-knuckle ride, with a rapid and sometimes disorientating succession of peaks and troughs. Unlike corporate finance professionals, whose stock in trade is buying and selling companies, shareholders enter bewildering territory that many visit only once in a lifetime.

For Haslam, the best advice to management proposing to enter the auction process is to choose advisers carefully.

On Clearwater's team, Haslam comments:

"While you should be able to take it for granted that your advisers will do a good and professional job, it's really important to choose teams that you connect with."

"You spend so much time with people, often in emotionally charged circumstances, that the personal chemistry must be just right. We were delighted with our choice of advisers - the team from Clearwater was great. It was an incredibly challenging time, but we got through it successfully - and even managed to also have some fun along the way."