Telecare Aware

Bridgepoint, the private equity company that bought Tunstall for £225 million in 2005, yesterday announced that it is selling 84% of it to another equity company, Charterhouse, for £514 million it was announced yesterday. Bridgepoint, which has a reputation for generally staying with its acquisitions long-term, is apparently keeping 18% and a seat on the board.

The money Bridgepoint is releasing is equivalent to 2.5 times its original investment, much of which, like the new money, was borrowed from the Royal Bank of Scotland.

[Comment: Selling this stake now, on the back of a large rise in Tunstall’s operating profits (expected to rise to £38m from £25m three years ago), appears to me to be a canny move on Bridgepoint’s part. It’s a rise that surely cannot be repeated this year, since I hear that in Tunstall’s home market many councils have been stockpiling its equipment this year out of the Preventative Technology Grant money. However, Charterhouse may see themselves getting into an expanding global market and, no doubt, received all the reassurance they need.]

Bridgepoint press release. (The Charterhouse press releases have not been updated since last November.)

The Tunstall press release, in its characteristically self-congratulatory way, bills the sale as ‘Charterhouse joins Tunstall team’ .

“Older people in Hull are the first in the country to access a new breed of personalised and locally relevant public services through their television, thanks to a an innovative venture launched by Hull City Council and Stream, Hull’s own on-demand, broadband television service. The service is part of a radical redesign of Hull City Council’s Community Care services which is embracing telehealth and telecare to help vulnerable older people live longer, healthier and happier lives in their own homes.” PublicTechnology.net story.

1 minute 18 seconds video about “the worlds smallest, high-speed wireless biosensor kit” from the Japanese Medical Electronic Science Institute Co. Ltd.

Publicity from the Telecare Services Association (TSA) of the CE Mark-related changes to EU regulations for Class 1 radio receivers, which include wireless telecare devices. Another PublicTechnology.net story.

Famous celebrities are now choosing to travel virtually, as three-dimensional, high-definition holograms and Cisco’s chief executive, John Chambers, aims to bring a two-dimensional high-definition TelePresence system to homes within three years for not much more than £500. Definite pointer to the future. Watch the video!

Taiwanese company Leadtek makes the world-famous (in computer geek circles) Gforce video card and many other video-related products, as Leadtek’s web site demonstrates. But did you know it has also been working on telehealthcare for the past ten years? See here.