John Ireland, CEO, Amanat Holdings 

Amanat Holdings, the Dubai-listed healthcare and education investment company, has made its first move into the British market by acquiring the specialist nursing operator Cornerstone Healthcare for up to £76 million. The deal was completed through Cambridge Health Group (CHG), Amanat's wholly owned post-acute care subsidiary, which bought the provider from the private equity firm Ignite Growth. Amanat said the purchase was funded entirely from internal resources.

The transaction carries an initial enterprise valuation of £71 million, with an earn-out of up to £5 million payable if performance milestones are met. The total equates to about Dh380 million. Amanat said it expects returns above CHG's investment hurdle rate. Cornerstone is projected to generate revenue of £36 million and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of £7 million by 2027. Its revenue has grown at an annualised rate of nearly 10 per cent across its facilities over the past three years.

Cornerstone operates four specialist nursing facilities with a combined 283 beds in southern England. They care for high-dependency adults, including patients with complex neurological conditions, severe mental illnesses, acquired brain injuries and advanced dementia. The company holds supply frameworks and long-term placement arrangements with local authorities and regional NHS commissioning bodies.

Cornerstone's current leadership team will remain in place to run its British operations. Immediate priorities include expanding the Bristol facility. The company also plans to move into intermediate care pathways and to develop higher-acuity brain injury rehabilitation programmes.

The acquisition lifts CHG's total capacity beyond 1,000 beds and gives the group its first operating presence outside the Gulf. Before the deal it ran about 700 beds across the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. Amanat has raised its medium-term target for the subsidiary from 1,000 beds to more than 1,500, to be reached through organic expansion and selective acquisitions.

The takeover follows closely on a change in Amanat's ownership of CHG. Four months ago the company bought out the remaining minority interests, paying Dh105 million for the final 10.03 per cent stake and taking full control of the business. Cornerstone is the first major step taken under that arrangement.

The purchase forms part of a wider programme announced in July, under which Amanat plans to deploy about Dh1.5 billion across its healthcare and education businesses. With Cornerstone, completed and committed capital reaches about Dh0.9 billion, or 60 per cent of the target. Other commitments within the programme include a 68-bed expansion of Cambridge Hospital in Jeddah and the announced development of a 155-bed integrated care hospital in Riyadh. The company has set a target return on equity of at least 10 per cent for the programme.

John Ireland, Amanat's chief executive, said the acquisition showed how the group's growth strategy was being turned into identifiable commercial and operational opportunities. The company described Cornerstone as complementing CHG's expertise in post-acute rehabilitation and long-term care, adding specialist clinical capabilities and extending the group's reach into the United Kingdom.

CHG has expanded rapidly since 2021, when it had about 260 beds. It now has more than 700 licensed beds, including a 150-bed long-term care and rehabilitation hospital in Khobar and a 200-bed hospital in Jeddah. In 2025 the group reported revenue of Dh404 million, up 11 per cent on the previous year, and EBITDA of Dh100 million, up 14 per cent.