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A community healthcare specialist that helps patients to live more healthily has been sold by private equity firm Foresight in a deal worth more than £10m.

Foresight has sold its stake in Bolton based ABL Health to Bay Tree Private Equity.

ABL was founded in 2009 to offer health and wellbeing services in communities, with its founders aiming to work to reduce health inequalities.

It offers services from smoking cessation clinics and alcohol reduction advice to weight management programmes and mental health services for children and young people.

Foresight in 2018, aiming to accelerate the company’s growth. It introduce a chair, Christopher Jessop, to work alongside CEO and co-founder Denise Leslie.

Since 2018, ABL’s sales and EBITDA have increased by some 150% while the company employs 160 more staff. It has helped tens of thousands of clients, with 62% of hose people coming from economically deprived areas.

Foresight said the sale to Bay Tree “generates a 4.1x cash-on-cash return for investors in the Foresight’s first fund dedicated to the North West ”.

Claire Alvarez, partner at Foresight Group, said: “It has been a pleasure to work with Denise and team over the past six years. Her team has built a leading name in community healthcare and through its work is contributing to alleviate the growing burden on the NHS. Foresight is proud to have worked alongside such a determined team and wish them all the best in their new partnership with Bay Tree.”