Private equity firm Holland Venture has decided to invest in AmbuCare, a staffing agency in ambulance care, to initiate a merger with its portfolio company HighCare.

The investment enables HighCare and AmbuCare to act as a stronger and more reliable partner in staffing solutions for hospitals and regional ambulance services. Furthermore, both companies' education institutes are now able to offer a broader range of training possibilities. The combined organisation employs over 300 professionals and has a pool of 1,000 temporary workers.

Both HighCare and AmbuCare are providers of staffing solutions in the healthcare sector. The collaboration was fuelled by the rapid developments in the healthcare sector, particularly the increasing shortage of employees, the aging population and the increasing demand from hospitals and regional ambulance services.

The new group provides staff over a wide range of professional disciplines, such as: surgical assistants, emergency and intensive care nurses, anaesthesia personnel, ambulance personnel and emergency room specialists.
 
Hans van Seters, CEO HighCare, sees substantial benefits for its clients and employees. He said "AmbuCare is a company where quality, reliability and good employment is the centre of the strategy, just like HighCare. The merger with AmbuCare enables us to improve the partnership with our customers; together we can offer a wider range of professional disciplines and strengthen our geographical coverage. For our employees this collaboration brings advantages in terms of improved training and personal development possibilities."
 
Jan Swagemakers, CEO AmbuCare, elaborates on that.  He said "I am very satisfied with the cooperation between HighCare and AmbuCare. In the ever-changing healthcare sector, hospitals and regional ambulance services have an increasing need for a solid partnership with a strong focus on quality, reliability and continuity. By joining forces, we can respond to this demand better and reinforce our position in the market."
 
Hubert Verbeek, Managing Partner Holland Venture, commented "early 2010 Holland Venture invested in HighCare with the aim to make the company the leading player in staffing solutions for the healthcare sector. The collaboration with AmbuCare contributes significantly to this aim since the company can expand its services with a number of interesting disciplines. The merger of HighCare and AmbuCare provides a solid basis for future growth."
 
AmbuCare (founded in 2003) is a medium-sized staffing organisation in the healthcare sector. The employees work in the (acute) ambulance service and/or in the (specialised) clinical care (including A-nurses, emergency room, ICU, CCU, OK, MC). AmbuCare also offers physicians for staffing solutions.
 
HighCare is a supplier of staffing solutions for specialised clinical care for Dutch hospitals and other medical institutes since January 2000. Furthermore, HighCare has an Interim & Consultancy division that executes operational and strategic assignments for the healthcare sector.

Deal metrics were not made available