CVC cashes in on British vaccine success as it buys stakes in firms behind immunisation programme
CVC Capital Partners has bought stakes in two British-based companies that provide the digital architecture for the UK’s vaccine rollout.
The Luxembourg-based private equity group has bought a majority stake in System C and a minority stake in its partner company Graphnet Health.
The two companies run the National Immunisation Management System — the IT software behind the UK’s largest ever vaccination programme.
The NHS uses the system to send out vaccine appointment invites, track how many people have received injections and to produce national statistics on how many people have been vaccinated.
The CVC deal is understood to value the two companies at a modest £500m, according to the Financial Times. However, CVC is said to be hopeful that other countries will soon look to buy the technology following the roaring success of Britain’s vaccine rollout.
So far, more than 16m people in Britain have received their first dose of a coronavirus vaccine, including all top four priority groups.
The figure means the UK is behind only Israel and the United Arab Emirates in the global vaccine race. Israel is currently leading by a long way, with more than three-quarters of its adult population immunised, compared to just under a quarter of Brits.
This week, the NHS will use software produced by System C and Graphnet to start sending letters out to over-65s and people with a clinical condition, including severe asthma, blood cancer and a host of other serious illnesses.
System C made £1.7m in pre-tax profits in the year to March 2019, according to its most recent accounts, while Graphnet made £500,000 in pre-tax profit in the same period.
A spokesperson for System C and Graphnet said the firms were “pleased” about CVC’s investment.
CVC declined to comment.