Beacon Healthcare expects funding to be oversubscribed

Private hospital operator Beacon Healthcare expects the latest round of investment for its 180-bed facility to be oversubscribed by about €5 million.

The company, backed by developer Pat Shovlin, businessman Michael Cullen and Dr Mark Redmond, has been seeking €40 million from investors for the next phase of the development.

However, The Irish Times understands that the round, which is being led by Goodbody Corporate Finance, has received pledges of €45 million.

Private individuals have pledged the cash. The minimum required for entry is €75,000, but it is understood that a large number of investors committed more significant sums.

The funding scheme is supported by tax breaks similar to those used to drive investment in urban renewal.

Beacon Healthcare runs a private clinic in Sandyford in south Dublin. The facility has 180 beds and its services include a dialysis unit. Mr Cullen is chief executive.

The current round of investment will bring support for the project to €180 million. Its original backers began the company with an outlay of €15 million and raised the rest through cash and equity.

The private sector is increasingly getting involved in healthcare in the State.

The Tánaiste and Minister for Health Mary Harney, is due to address a conference on private sector investment in health which Goodbody Corporate Finance is organising and will be held in Dublin later this month.

Other speakers will include Mike Parsons of Barchester, the UK nursing home group chaired by former Kerry boss Denis Brosnan and backed by Irish businessmen Dermot Desmond, JP McManus and John Magnier.

At the weekend, the Tánaiste signalled at the Progressive Democrats conference in Cork that the Government was keen to continue attracting private money into healthcare.

She suggested extending current tax reliefs for this purpose. The existing incentives are set to run out in two years.

Ms Harney made it clear that she would rather see Irish investors put their cash in hospitals in the Republic than foreign property investments.