Hedge fund proposes £1bn buyout of UK’s biggest private hospital operator

Shares in Spire Healthcare jump after approach from Toscafund, founded by City figure known as ‘the Rottweiler’ The board of Britain’s largest private hospital operator has backed a buyout proposal worth £1bn from its second biggest shareholder, a hedge fund manager known as “the Rottweiler”, sending its shares soaring by nearly 50%. Spire Healthcare, which owns the Claremont hospital in Sheffield and St Anthony’s hospital in south London, said it had received a non-binding proposal worth 250p a share from funds advised by the activist investor Toscafund Asset Management. Toscafund was founded in 2000 by Martin Hughes, a longtime City figure who has been at the forefront of many takeover situations, earning him the nickname “the Rottweiler” for his aggressive approach. Spire said: “The possible cash offer is at a value that the board would be minded to recommend unanimously to Spire Healthcare shareholders” if a firm offer was tabled. Its share price, which had hit a five-year low of 142p in March, jumped by 47p to 221p on Thursday, giving the company a market capitalisation of £892m. The Toscafund approach came after talks between Spire and the private equity