Spire Healthcare explores potential sale amid shareholder pressure

Spire Healthcare Group, the UK’s largest private hospital operator, is considering strategic options, including a potential sale, after pressure from major shareholders. Investment managers and activist funds, including Toscafund, Harwood Capital, and Achilles Trust, are urging the company to seek a price of at least £3.40 per share.

The company, which rejected a £2.50-per-share takeover bid from Australia-listed Ramsay Healthcare in 2021, operates 38 hospitals and more than 50 clinics, medical centres, and consulting rooms across the UK. Spire serves both private and NHS patients, runs a network of private GPs, and provides occupational health services to over 800 corporate clients.

Long NHS waiting lists have boosted private healthcare demand, with Spire benefiting from an expanding partnership with the health service, which now accounts for more than 30% of revenue. NHS annual settlements rose 3.9% in 2024, reinforcing the company’s steady growth trajectory.

Analysts highlight strong US investor appetite for UK hospital assets, as private providers in the US face Medicaid cutbacks. Competitors including HCA Hospitals, Circle Health, and Cleveland Healthcare are actively expanding, particularly in complex care services such as cancer treatment and neurosurgery.

Spire confirmed it is working with Rothschild & Co to explore a range of potential options. The company emphasised that no formal approaches have been received and no negotiations are currently underway.

The move reflects a growing trend of shareholder-driven value realisation in the UK private healthcare sector, with investors seeking returns from companies positioned at the intersection of private and NHS-funded care.

See how Spire Healthcare’s strategic review coul d reshape the UK private hospital market.