THE founders of Caretech are planning to make an offer to delist the social care group from the London Stock Exchange, reported Sky News.
Farouq and Haroon Sheikh are in talks to secure the financing required to launch a takeover bid for the company, the report added.
Started in 1993, Caretech provides social care and education services for adults and children, mainly on behalf of local authorities, to which it charges fees.
According to the report, discussions were at an early stage. However, Caretech’s independent board members have been notified of the co-founders’ plans.
Currently, the brothers, who are executive chairman and chief executive respectively, own a minority stake in the business.
They need to raise hundreds of millions of pounds to make a formal offer, the Sky News report added.
Caretech’s specialist hospitals and residential homes look after adults with autism and brain injuries, while it also operates schools and fostering agencies for children.
In December, the company reported underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of more than £100m on revenues that were up by more than 13 per cent to almost £490m.
“A stock exchange announcement was likely to be made by the company confirming the approach on Monday morning,” a source told Sky News.
Caretech had a market capitalisation of £664m, having seen its shares rise by just over 10 per cent during the last 12 months.
“The value of a formal offer from the co-founders is unclear, although it is expected to be at a substantial premium to the current price,” the report further said.
