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Business Upturn
06-05-2025
- Business
- Business Upturn
Optima Health to acquire Care first
By GlobeNewswire Published on May 6, 2025, 16:00 IST Optima Health to acquire Care first, a leading provider of mental health services, for a net consideration of £15,000, adding c.£3.7 million revenue to the Group Acquisition provides Optima with increased scale in its Mental Health division and will complement its existing Employee Assistance Programme ('EAP') service offering, bringing over 1,000 new customers, and c.40 employees Aligns with strategy of consolidating margin accretive businesses in areas with significant existing expertise, creating additional growth opportunities and scale benefits LONDON, UK, 6 May 2025, Optima Health (AIM: OPT), the UK's leading provider of technology enabled corporate health and wellbeing solutions, today announces that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the trade and assets of Care first ('Care first'), a leading provider of mental health services from Priory Group for a cash consideration of £350,000 (£15,000 net) on a cash free, debt free basis (the 'Acquisition'). The effective date will be 2 June 2025. The Acquisition will expand Optima Health's scale in the provision of mental health services, with Care first complementing the Group's existing EAP service offering. The deal will also expand Optima's customer base with the addition of over 1,000 new customers, presenting further cross selling opportunities of other occupational health and wellbeing solutions. Alongside this, the Acquisition brings additional specialist capabilities with approximately 40 experienced employees with a substantial network. This Acquisition aligns with Optima Health's strategic focus in the occupational health sector, consolidating margin accretive and value creating businesses in areas where we have significant expertise, creating additional growth opportunities and scale benefits with enhanced operating leverage. Further to the Acquisition, and as previously reported, there are significant opportunities to accelerate growth, and the Board will continue to evaluate bolt-on acquisitions and consolidation in the market. Jonathan Thomas, Chief Executive Officer of Optima Health, said: ' The acquisition of Care first demonstrates our ability to continue to execute on our communicated strategy. The business is strategically aligned with ours in a market we understand extremely well, creating opportunities for scale. We look forward to integrating the businesses and benefiting from the significant additional specialist capabilities and revenue growth opportunities, as we continue to evaluate further value-enhancing bolt-on opportunities in the market.' Financial considerations Under the terms of the agreement to acquire the entire trade and assets of Care first on a cash free, debt free basis, Optima Health will pay a consideration of £350,000 on completion, offset by an apportionment adjustment of £335,000, meaning a net consideration of £15,000. The Acquisition will be financed using the Group's existing financing facilities. In the 12 months to December 2024, Care first generated unaudited revenue of £4.4 million. Enquiries Optima Health Jonathan Thomas, CEO Heidi Giles, CFO +44(0)3300085113 [email protected] Nominated Adviser and Corporate Broker Panmure Liberum Limited Emma Earl / Will Goode / Mark Rogers Rupert Dearden +44 (0)20 3100 2000 UK Financial PR Adviser ICR Healthcare Mary-Jane Elliott / Angela Gray / Lindsey Neville [email protected] About Optima Health Optima Health is the UK's leading provider of occupational health and wellbeing services, directly influencing and improving people's lives for 25 years. Optima Health's incredible team of professionals quickly and effectively encapsulate client's needs, supporting organisations of all shapes and sizes. Through tailored solutions and innovative systems, Optima Health offers unparalleled clinical expertise to its clients. These solutions ensure that processes are simple and allow its clients to spend more time focusing on their employees driving a healthy, high-performing workplace. For more information visit Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with GlobeNewswire. Business Upturn takes no editorial responsibility for the same. GlobeNewswire provides press release distribution services globally, with substantial operations in North America and Europe.
Daily Mail
28-04-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
SMALL CAP IDEA: Optima Health's model is largely immune from trade volatility
In the wake of the global bow waves created by President Trump's quixotic approach to trade and tariffs, investors have been scurrying toward so-called safe-haven assets. Gold has soared to record levels as individuals, banks, investment funds, and even governments seek a hedge against what increasingly resembles an all-out confrontation between the US and China. At home, comfort is being sought in traditional 'defensives'. Grocers such as Tesco and Sainsbury (and even the tobacco sector) are seeing renewed interest. The common theme is reliable earnings and dividends in times of stress. Beyond the FTSE giants, analysts are screening for the same qualities in the small and mid-cap sector. Deutsche Bank this week highlighted its top 10, a predictable list of homegrown names, largely insulated from tariffs and the now-looming threat of global recession. But what the likes of Deutsche and its peers have been slower to spot, principally because their algorithms don't allow for it, are value stocks below the £500million threshold. And here, in the market's overlooked undergrowth, sit a handful of businesses that are cash-generative, growing, stable and largely unbothered by the storm of bad news emanating from Washington. One such company, though by no means the only example, is Optima Health. With a market capitalisation of £160million, it doesn't make it onto most institutional screens but probably should. Optima's model is simple, but well executed. Its buy-and-build strategy has been stress-tested enough to suggest the business can continue to make earnings-accretive acquisitions that underpin growth. Led by chief executive Jonathan Thomas, the company provides outsourced occupational health services. Specifically, this includes risk management, health surveillance, fitness assessments, workplace health advice and adaptations, employee wellbeing support, and 'evidence-based clinical interventions to support employees to be healthy at work'. The aim is to maximise attendance and performance while safeguarding employee health and ensuring their roles remain suitable. At its core is a digitally enabled, flexible operating model that allows the business to scale rapidly as contracts and acquisitions are added. Optima supports over five million employees across the UK and directly employs over 800 multidisciplinary occupational health clinicians and around 1,500 total staff. Its infrastructure includes over 50 occupational health clinics, more than 1,700 counselling providers, and upwards of 900 physiotherapists, all supported by 38 mobile screening units. Optima's revenues are long-term, contracted and recurring, drawn from both the public and private sectors. 'This makes us pretty resilient to economic shocks and disruption,' says Thomas. Occupational health, he points out, is a regulatory must-have, not a discretionary extra to be dropped in lean times. It's this defensive profile that makes Optima stand out. The UK occupational health market is worth £1.2billion and is forecast to grow at 4 per cent a year through 2028. Despite this, 80 per cent of UK employers still don't offer any occupational health provision, even as ill-health and presenteeism cost the economy an estimated £150billion annually. Optima is targeting a 25 per cent share of the market through a mix of organic growth, expansion and acquisitions. The group is focusing on bolt-on deals, complementary services and entry into new sectors, supported by a scalable platform and a tested integration model. Its latest deal, Cognate Health, for up to €9million, will be earnings-accretive from day one. Just as important, it gives Optima its first foothold in the Republic of Ireland. Crucially, Optima's buy-and-build strategy is more than a simple arbitrage on private versus public company valuations. It is underpinned by synergies. Plugging new operations into Optima's digital backbone delivers immediate cost benefits. Thomas and his team are also looking at ways to cross-sell new products into their existing client base. And by winning work from major clients across both public and private sectors, including multinationals, large blue light emergency services, and national infrastructure organisations, the group has shown it can handle complex, large-scale public sector contracts. The same credentials helped secure a high-profile win: a deal to deliver recruitment medicals for the UK armed forces in partnership with Serco. 'It looks like a new market,' says Thomas, 'but actually it's very similar to what we already deliver at scale for existing clients. We'll look at more opportunities like that just outside the core occupational health space.' Though it was only listed on AIM in September, Optima has a long track record of growth. Previously part of the stock market quoted group Marlowe, and before that under private equity ownership, it now leads what remains a highly fragmented market. Revenues are expected to reach £115million this year. The company has access to a £20million revolving credit facility, half drawn, and Thomas suggests there's scope for further debt funding if a larger opportunity arises. Strong cash generation will also help fund the next leg of growth. RBC, in a recent note, praised Optima's defensive qualities. It highlighted regulatory support and loyal customers, and noted that the company is growing faster than the market, a useful shield against wider economic gloom. Following the Cognate acquisition, RBC raised its price target to 220p, up from 215p. That's based on a valuation of 10.8 times forecast 2025 earnings (EV/EBITDA). Currently trading at around 8 times, RBC expects the multiple to rise toward levels seen across the insurance and healthcare sectors, typically 9.3 to 12.8 times. Panmure Liberum was also positive, raising its target to 212p from 208p. Its valuation uses a blend of peer comparisons and discounted cash flow. Optima's shares are currently trading at 177p. Even so, Optima isn't bulletproof. One curveball came in the form of a surprise hike in employers' National Insurance contributions, announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in her Spring Statement. It will add to costs, which Optima will need to mitigate through growth and technology enhancements. But as these things go, Optima looks as solid as a company can be in this environment. It may not have excited investors during the AI and tech frenzy, but it looks much more compelling amid tariffs and macro uncertainty. It's definitely one for the watch list.
Business Wire
24-04-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Ray Therapeutics Awarded $8M CIRM Grant to Advance RTx-015 Gene Therapy for Retinitis Pigmentosa
BERKELEY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Ray Therapeutics, a biotechnology company developing optogenetic gene therapies for vision restoration, today announced it has been awarded an $8 million grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). The grant will support the company's ongoing clinical development of RTx-015 for the treatment of retinitis pigmentosa (RP), a progressive and debilitating inherited retinal disease that leads to blindness. Ray Therapeutics' approach uses an optimized optogenetic gene therapy to deliver light-sensitive proteins to the retina of the eye to restore visual function to patients with RP, regardless of the underlying genetic cause. 'Retinitis pigmentosa remains a devastating condition with no approved treatments for the vast majority of patients,' said Paul Bresge, CEO & Co-Founder, Ray Therapeutics. 'We are deeply grateful to CIRM for their belief in our science and their continued support of our programs. We are honored to partner with CIRM as we advance therapies that have the potential to transform the lives of patients.' 'Restoring vision is one of the most powerful ways we can improve quality of life,' said Jonathan Thomas, PhD, JD, President and CEO, CIRM. 'Ray Therapeutics is advancing a potential breakthrough treatment for a high unmet medical need for people in California and around the world with advanced RP, for whom there are currently no treatment options. We are proud to support this exciting program.' Ray Therapeutics' gene therapy program received a unanimous vote of support from CIRM's scientific and patient advocate reviewers. It was recognized by CIRM's independent Grants Working Group (GWG) as having exceptional scientific merit and a high potential for impact, with all 15 reviewers scoring the application at the highest level. About Retinitis Pigmentosa RP is a genetic disease in which the photoreceptors gradually degenerate resulting in complete, or nearly complete blindness for most patients. The symptoms of RP include night blindness, reduced visual fields, and eventual loss of visual acuity. Patients are typically diagnosed in the first decades of life. It is estimated that more than half a million people are affected by RP worldwide. At present, no effective treatment is available for RP. About Ray Therapeutics Ray Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company advancing optogenetic therapies to restore vision in patients with severe retinal degeneration. By delivering a bioengineered, highly light-sensitive protein to targeted retinal cells, the approach is designed to improve visual function regardless of the underlying genetic mutation. The company's lead candidate, RTx-015, targets retinal ganglion cells and is currently being evaluated in a Phase 1 clinical trial for patients with retinitis pigmentosa and choroideremia. A second program, RTx-021, which targets retinal bipolar cells, is in late-stage preclinical development for Stargardt disease and geographic atrophy secondary to age-related macular degeneration. Ray Therapeutics is headquartered in Berkeley, California. For more information, visit About the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) is a funding agency established by Californians to accelerate regenerative medicine research to deliver treatments for patients with unmet medical needs. Established in 2004 through the passage of Proposition 71, CIRM was initially funded with $3 billion from the state of California to support ongoing research, and in 2020, was funded again with another $5.5 billion through Proposition 14 to continue the Agency's important work. CIRM has provided billions in funding to support stem cell, genetic research, and development programs in its portfolio. Through the Agency's research, infrastructure, and education programs, CIRM aims to transform the field of regenerative medicine, stimulate economic growth, and improve the lives of diverse communities throughout the state. For more information, go to
