Deal: Global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright has acted for the founders of Independent Living Specialists Pty Limited (ILS) on the sale of a controlling stake of ILS to Riverside Australia Fund III LP (the Fund).

ILS is a Sydney-based healthcare company and registered NDIS service provider, with a significant product range with a focus on the sale and distribution of mobility devices (e.g. wheelchairs, scooters), specialised furniture (e.g. lift chairs, beds/mattresses) and personal care equipment (e.g. shower stools, mats).

Value: Undisclosed. 

Area: M&A.

Key players: The Norton Rose Fulbright team was led by corporate M&A partner Richard Lewis in Sydney, and included senior associate Christian McMahon and associate Sassica Hoolahan.

Deal significance: Riverside’s capital injection is expected to speed up the company’s national expansion, which is likely to include both organic and M&A measures.

The fund is the latest Asia-Pacific private equity fund raised by The Riverside Company, a global private equity firm headquartered in New York. 

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The transaction involved a partial scrip-for-scrip rollover for the founders and the other existing shareholders of ILS into the holding entity that indirectly acquired the stake in ILS.

“With the world’s attention squarely on the importance of the global healthcare industry right now, it was pleasing to be able to support the founders of ILS to complete the sale of their controlling stake to the fund,” Mr Lewis commented.

The investment signifies making the most of the trend from Australia’s ageing population and more efficient funding structure via the National Disability Insurance Scheme. 

The investment is likely to realise a long-time goal for Riverside, which has been circling the company since it was introduced to the founders via their long-term advisers at Deloitte Corporate Finance a few years ago.