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Dutch nursing home consolidation infographic

 

The Dutch nursing care market is highly consolidated, primarily by the top for-profit French operators – namely Korian and Orpea – who have been acquiring multiple smaller Dutch operators since 2018. Five years on, the two leading French giants control over 60% of the beds in the market under various different brand names. The big two have acquired the lower tier competitors so there aren’t that many targets left to acquire. This infographic is kindly supplied by Dutch healthcare consultancy Vardetun.

Prior to the introduction of regulatory changes that made operating commercial nursing homes much more attractive and the subsequent introduction of French giants Orpea and Korian, the sector was dominated by non-profits. After the regulatory change was introduced, the shape of the sector began to change.

The sector previously had 70+ non-profit organisations with over 6,000 beds alongside eleven larger Dutch-owned national chains with national ambitions with 3,600 beds. After the regulation change and entrance of the French giants in 2018, the market began to change through acquisitions until eventually only four of these eleven commercial organisations remained. By 2021 the four organisations had grown their bed stock from 3,600 in 2018 to 5,400 in 2021.

The overall sector is still growing and undergoing increasing privatisation. HBI understands from market experts that opportunities could lie in more high-end, expensive areas but overall competitive dynamics are unlikely to change in any meaningful way.

“There’s a subset of smaller players who are reasonably sized with roughly 100-120 beds. The scale required in an individual location has grown over time. Changes will make it harder for smaller players, in particular changes to BVP financing, because living at home falls under the responsibility of local GPs. The government is also looking at changes to these rules. Providers have to provide geriatric speciality care. That will make it tougher for smaller players,” Founder of Vardetun Rune Aresvik previously told HBI.

HBI Intelligence will be releasing its brand new Dutch home report in the next few weeks, click here to keep up to date.

We would welcome your thoughts on this story. Email your views to Michaila Byrne or call 0207 183 3779.