handl Group acquires IPRS Group
The firm completed its takeover of the Suffolk-based healthcare services provider on 8 April
UK investment portfolio management firm handl Group, which specialises in the acquisition of businesses across the legal, insurance and healthcare sectors, has acquired Suffolk-based IPRS Group
The sale to handl, which completed on 8 April for an undisclosed sum, includes all four IPRS subsidiary brands:
- IPRS Aeromed, a supplier of paramedic-led medical repatriation and other specialist services
- IPRS Health, which specialises in physiotherapy, mental health and wellbeing for the insurance, corporate, National Health Service (NHS) and occupational health sectors
- IPRS Mediquipe, which distributes Biodex functional assessment, rehabilitation equipment and training to elite sports, universities and the NHS
- PFAS, an independent provider of quality medical assessments delivered in-house.
Under the new ownership, handl has confirmed that trade will continue under all existing brands.
In 2020, the IPRS Group achieved turnover of £17 million. In addition to the UK’s NHS, the company has also worked with insurers Aviva, QBE and Vitality, as well as services providers ATOS and SERCO.
In addition, handl stated that all senior management, including CEO Martyn Jackson, will remain in place due to their ‘excellent track record of delivering growth in existing markets, along with experience of successfully creating new products and services to service existing and new customers’.
Commenting on the deal, Jackson said: “I am particularly excited by the opportunities for further work in the public sector, where our scale and strengthened capabilities and infrastructure will open up opportunities to bid for larger government contracts.”
Handl plans to ‘synergise’ IPRS with its existing health businesses
Graham Pulford, CEO of the handl Group, added: “This is a significant growth opportunity that will give us additional scale and new distribution channels in private medical insurance (PMI), as well as elite sport, an IPRS Group specialism. It will also further cement the relationships handl Group currently has with the UK insurance industry.
Pulford explained that the acquisition was the biggest undertaken by handl to date, and that the company aims to support IPRS’s ‘ambitious’ growth plans, including the acceleration of its existing digital offerings, through additional investment.
“The Group already has a proven model of growth and is poised to further enhance its market presence following a number of contract wins this year, both renewals and new business. We intend to capitalise on the synergies in our existing health businesses, which provide health and rehabilitation services to the insurance and legal markets,” he added.
Elsewhere, multinational insurer Munich Re partnered with Dubai National Insurance and Reinsurance to aid in its takeover of Generali Global Health’s (GGH) Global Choice insurance plan.