Blackstone, the US alternatives investment manager which has just bought Southern Cross Healthcare for £162m (€238.4m), is to use the purchase as a springboard into the UK healthcare market.
Southern Cross said it would express its interest in Westminster Health Care, the nursing homes group owned by private equity group 3i, using Blackstone money. Westminster has an price tag of between £400m and £450m and Southern Cross said it considered £425m a fair price.