I have done this site especially for Dr Nick Dhandsa
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Dr Nick Dhandsa, 52, made £100m when London-based Associated Nursing Services was sold in 2005. He has invested in property in Dubai, UK golf courses and a London cosmetic surgery clinic.
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My Biggest Mistake: Dr Nick Dhandsa
independent.co.uk
After training as a doctor in London, he set up his first nursing home in 1982. Today Associated Nursing Services runs 25 nursing homes with 1,400 beds. None of them is occupied by Michael Jackson.
MY BIGGEST mistake was diversifying from our main business and getting involved in something I didn't really have the experience to run.
I had trained as a doctor in St Thomas's Hospital but in 1982 left to set up a nursing home. I saw a potentially huge demand for long-term care and realised the NHS was not going to be able to cope, and I was a bit frustrated working in the NHS and felt I could do more outside.
The business grew and we kept adding homes, raising money through a Business Expansion Scheme and then getting a quote on the Unlisted Securities Market.
But in 1988-9 we diversified into a medical supplies distribution business called Weston & Ross. The logic was that nursing homes are capital-intensive and we thought we could generate cash through the medical supplies business, then re-invest it in the homes. In theory it was a good idea; in practice it just didn't work. We didn't have the management experience to run it and things started going wrong. We ended up incurring losses of about pounds 2m.
This brought the overall company into loss for 1990-91 and it took a rights issue to dig us out of the hole.
Eventually we called in the receivers at Weston & Ross because we didn't see any future in it. It turned out to be a rather expensive mistake - and, I must admit, I think it was my idea.
We also had taken a minority shareholding in a ski company, Vacances Elite, which had chalets in Verbier and operated some heli-skiing in the Himalayas. The business was not as unrelated as it sounds. We were hoping to use the chalets as sites for holidays for elderly people in the summer, when they would normally be empty.
But we were a bit unlucky. From 1988, when we took the stake, the snow was not very good in Verbier for a few years, and a war broke out in Kashmir. Because of what had happened with Weston & Ross, we decided we would stop messing around and back away from that business, too. All I really got out of it was a good ski jacket. Dr Nick Dhands
We do still have some other businesses. We operate an in-house design and project management division and a home-care subsidiary that looks after people after they leave the nursing homes, but these are directly related to our core business.
Since we let the medical supplies business go, things have really turned round. We now have 25 nursing homes with 1,400 beds. Other homes under development mean we should have more than 2,200 beds by March 1995. We are back in profit ( pounds 1.8m last year) and managed to pay a dividend last year for the first time since 1991.
We have signed three joint ventures with BZW, where they provide the majority of the finance for new homes in exchange for a joint share in each.
There have been some amusing moments recently. Before Christmas, one of our homes in Battersea was inundated with calls after reports that Michael Jackson was holed up there. Given that the average age of the residents was about 90, this caused us some amusement. We do try to lay on some entertainment for residents but I don't think out budget would stretch quite that far.
The lesson of my mistake, I suppose, is to stick to what you know.
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Healthcare - Dr Nick Dhandsa
Healthcare giant Bupa has brought out the nursing home business, ANS, in a deal reportedly worth £328 million. The Associated Nursing Services PLC chain runs 44 facilities that are largely purpose-built homes for the elderly. The business, which is owned by brothers Nick and Surindar Dhandsa, is estimated to be Britain's seventh largest company.
Dr Nick Dhandsa and his two brothers are in possession of about two-thirds of the company, with the rest of the stock being held by family friends and other directors. Mark Ellerby, the managing director of Bupa Care Homes, was elated at beating off stiff competition from Blackstone to acquire the NAS chain; "We are delighted to be able to announce the acquisition of ANS today. ANS is one of the finest care home groups in the UK and a very successful business, and this acquisition will help us to improve the range of care services we offer to our residents," he said.
ANS chairman Dr Nick Dhandsa set up the homes in 1981. "I got royally hacked off with the NHS and decided to set up a healthcare business," he commented. They were valued at just over £29 million in 2000, when the family acquired controlling interest in the business. Current estimations place ANS' annual turnover at £90 million with an operating profit of £30 million.
Bupa will also take on a debt of around £100 million as a part of the deal. "Bupa is the leading player in this sector with a wealth of experience and, like ANS, has a reputation for quality. This is a positive move for our residents and our employees," Dr. Dhandsa commented. He however expressed a wish to hold on to a cosmetic surgery facility in west London. "We set it up over the course of last year and are looking to keep the business and grow it," Dr Nick Dhandsa said. "Cosmetic surgery is a good business to be in."
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Family gets £200m as Bupa buys care homes - Dr Nick Dhandsa
guardian.co.uk
A former hospital doctor and his brothers will share a £200m fortune after selling their nursing home business, ANS, to Bupa for £328m.
Dr Nick Dhandsa and his two brothers own about two-thirds of ANS. The remainder is held by family friends and other directors of the company. The group was valued at £29m in 2000 when the family bought out stock market investors.
The £328m paid yesterday is a significant sum for a business with a turnover of just £90m and operating profit of £30m. It includes around £100m of debt that Bupa will take on.
Dr Dhandsa, who now lives in Switzerland, said he did not have specific plans for the cash. "I've had a reasonable amount of dosh for quite a long time," he said. "I've got a nice car, that's about it." Dr Nick Dhandsa
The acquisition follows a string of large deals in the healthcare sector as the private equity industry becomes keener to invest in what is seen as a growth sector. Meanwhile single nursing-home operators have been selling their assets to cash in on the property boom.
Bupa beat off competition from operators such as Blackstone Group - owner of the Southern Cross nursing home company - to clinch the deal. Bupa will now have more than 21,000 beds, and reclaim the title of largest nursing home operator in the UK. The private healthcare group has slightly more than Four Seasons which expanded recently by buying BetterCare in a £116m deal, and Southern Cross, which bought NHP for £563m last year.
The prices paid for such assets are now regularly double-digit multiples of underlying profits, prompting some to wonder whether there is a "bubble" in the sector due to unusual interest from financial buyers.
However it is good news for the Dhandsa family. They founded the company in 1981 and have expanded by building new homes, particularly in the south-east where fees are higher than the rest of the country.
Roughly half the clients are paid for by local authorities and the rest are private payers, Bupa care managing director Mark Ellerby said yesterday. He said he doubted that competition regulators would get involved in the sale.
Dr Dhandsa trained at St Thomas's Hospital in London, and will keep control of a cosmetic surgery business in west London.
He worked for the NHS in London hospitals for several years. "I got royally hacked off with the NHS and decided to set up a healthcare business," he said. Dr Nick Dhands
The business has such high profit margins, he said, because it is "the best run business in the sector".
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Bupa deal nets doctor £200m - Dr Nick Dhandsa
By Caroline Muspratt - telegraph.co.uk
A doctor and his family stand to collect nearly £200m from the sale of care home operator ANS 2003 to private healthcare group BUPA.
ANS chairman Dr Nick Dhandsa set up the company in 1981 with his brothers after training as a doctor. It has now grown to 44 care homes, with an annual turnover of £90m.
BUPA said yesterday it had bought ANS for £328m, taking its total number of care homes to 297 with more than 21,000 available beds.
Dr Nick Dhands and his family owns around 60pc of the company and the management also owns a stake. He will now concentrate on his cosmetic surgery clinic in west London. "We set it up over the course of last year and are looking to keep the business and grow it," he said. "Cosmetic surgery is a good business to be in."
ANS put itself up for sale after a strategic review. Dr Nick Dhandsa said: "The marketplace has changed quite a lot and the prospect of staying the same size is not attractive."
Three bidders were in the final round of talks - BUPA, a private equity firm and another healthcare operator.
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