26th June 2020

Expansion Lines Up By Cancer Treatment Centre Firm

Cancer treatment specialist Rutherford Health has entered into a £55m development framework agreement under which it will establish up to five new facilities in the UK to provide diagnostic services to the NHS and to private patients.

The agreement is with Equitix, an investor, developer and long-term fund manager of core infrastructure assets in the UK and Europe.

Each centre will provide a variety of diagnostics services to NHS and private patients including positron emission tomography-computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, computed tomography, ultrasound, endoscopy, x-ray and other relevant diagnostic services.

Equitix will have the exclusive right to provide funding to establish special purpose vehicles (SPV) to construct and own the diagnostic centres which will  be operated by Rutherford Infrastructures Ltd .

Rutherford Diagnostics Ltd will provide diagnostic services.

The DFA covers the development of the first five Rutherford diagnostics centres with an estimated value of approximately £55m. Under the terms of the DFA, Equitix will have a right of first refusal in respect of the development and funding of a further five centres beyond the initial five.

Beyond those ten centres RD, RIL and Equitix have agreed to examine mutually beneficial options for continuing to work together to develop further diagnostic clinical services.

The company has already reached agreement with an NHS Trust in England to create the first facility and a further announcement will be released once a SPV has been created under the agreement with Equitix.

Establishment of each SPV under the terms of the DFA is subject to the agreement of both Rutherford and Equitix and is subject to the collaboration with local NHS Trusts for a period of ten years under terms to be agreed on a case by case basis.

Craven Street Capital acted as financial adviser to Rutherford Health and Rutherford Diagnostics.

Rutherford chief executive Mike Moran said: “The demand for diagnostic capability in the NHS, and private sector, has increased significantly over the last five years with demand outstripping supply year on year. The DFA with Equitix will enable Rutherford Diagnostics to meet the rising demand for diagnostic clinical services”.

Geoff Jackson, chief executive of Equitix, added: “We have demonstrated a strong track record in our ownership and management of healthcare assets, particularly in this time of crisis where we have been working to support NHS staff on the front-line and, as such, we are pleased to be further consolidating our capabilities and adding these assets to our institutional investment portfolios.”

Founded in 2015 by Mike Moran and UK and international cancer experts, including Professor Edward Karol Sikora, Newport-headquartered Rutherford Health is building a network of oncology centres known as the Rutherford Cancer Centres. The centres have been named to reflect the renowned scientist Ernest Rutherford’s contribution to the identification and naming of the proton in 1920.

As well as the Rutherford Cancer Centre South Wales, Rutherford Health (formerly known as Proton Partners International Limited) has opened two further centres – the Rutherford Cancer Centre North East in Northumberland and the Rutherford Cancer Centre Thames Valley in Reading, with proton therapy now available in both. A fourth site is under construction in Liverpool, the Rutherford Cancer Centre North West.