The purchase by DHG – a portfolio company of European private equity health care specialist ARCHIMED – is a carve-out from Swedish-listed group Handicare.

European private equity healthcare specialist, ARCHIMED announces that its portfolio company and partner Direct Healthcare Group has acquired the Patient Handling Europe division of Swedish-listed group Handicare. The acquisition deepens DHG’s range of products and widens its geographical reach, putting it on course to be the leading pan-European provider of products and solutions for the care of patients with limited mobility.

The carve-out of the unit – a specialist provider of transfer solutions that simplify mobility for patients in hospitals, acute care environments, group homes, and private homes – follows DHG’s acquisition last month of GATE Rehab Development AB. GATE is a researcher, designer, and manufacturer of mobility rehabilitation aids, including technologically advanced sit-to-stand products, and mobile hygiene chairs frequently used at bedsides.

Both acquisitions are part of DHG’s ongoing buy-and-build strategy focused on expansion in Europe and beyond. When ARCHIMED acquired DHG in December, the private equity group committed a significant amount of capital to fund expansion for the then largely UK-focused DHG. In addition to significantly broadening DHG’s global reach, the acquisition of Patient Handling Europe and GATE permit DHG to serve customers with a highly complementary and diverse product portfolio for enhancing mobility. The combined group will have sales throughout Europe, Asia, and the Americas.

“The products and specialized knowledge we gain with our carve-out of Patient Handling Europe – as was the case with the GATE acquisition – are a perfect fit for our traditional strength in pressure care management,” says Graham Ewart, Direct Healthcare CEO. “The integration of this division will continue DHG’s more than decade-old history of achieving better health outcomes and economic efficiencies for those who would otherwise be bedbound.” At the time of its acquisition by ArchiMed, DHG had developed into an integrated manufacturer of a range of innovative pressure care products designed to prevent medical issues such as pressure sores, which can lead to serious, sometimes life-threatening diseases.

“We are very excited to have completed two acquisitions that have doubled DHG’s size within four months of ARCHIMED’s initial investment and to have accomplished this in an uncertain global context,” says Antoine Faguer, a partner at ARCHIMED. “PH Europe is a great match in terms of product and geography. It’s not DHG’s last acquisition, but it’s a key milestone on its way to becoming the pan-European leader in the fragmented space for mobility-related medical devices and services.”