Oxford ADHD Centre acquired by Clinical Partners

Clinical Partners, one of the UK's largest independent providers of mental health, autism, and ADHD services, has acquired Oxford ADHD & Autism Centre. CapEQ was appointed through its Transaction Advisory service to negotiate final terms and structure the deal on behalf of the founders.

Clinical assessment room at Oxford ADHD & Autism Centre, the Thames Valley clinic acquired by Clinical Partners

Deal at a glance

Target	Oxford ADHD & Autism Centre
Acquirer	Clinical Partners Limited, United Kingdom
Completion date	20 June 2023
Deal value	Undisclosed
Deal structure	Undisclosed
M&A advisor to Oxford ADHD	CapEQ — Partner Mark Sapsford (Transaction Advisory)
Legal advisor to Oxford ADHD	Freeths LLP (Malin Svanberg Larsson)
Legal advisor to Clinical Partners	Keystone Law
Sector	Healthcare / Mental health / Neurodevelopmental services
Target HQ	Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
Founded	2015 by Dr Polly Branney
Clinical team at completion	~40 multidisciplinary clinicians
Patient base at completion	3,000+ patients assessed and supported since 2015
Post-acquisition status	Integrated into Clinical Partners' national specialist network

Overview of Oxford ADHD & Autism Centre

Founded in 2015 by Dr Polly Branney and her husband Steve Branney, Oxford ADHD & Autism Centre was built into a leading independent assessment and treatment clinic for children and adults with autism, ADHD, and related neurodevelopmental conditions.

Operating from a base in Oxfordshire and serving patients across the Thames Valley, the clinic developed a multidisciplinary team of around 40 psychiatrists, psychologists, nurse prescribers, speech and language therapists, and specialist coaches. By the point of sale, the team had assessed and supported more than 3,000 patients and held active partnerships with NHS services to extend specialist care to a wider population.

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Strategic acquisition by Clinical Partners

The transaction strengthened Clinical Partners' position as one of the UK's largest independent providers of mental health, autism, and ADHD services — adding a regional centre of clinical excellence to a national network that already comprised 22 clinics, more than 400 specialists, and a patient base of approximately 40,000 across the NHS and private pathways.

For Clinical Partners, the acquisition added immediate specialist capacity in adult and paediatric ADHD and autism assessment at a moment when waiting times across the UK had reached record levels, NHS commissioning of independent provision was expanding, and demand for neurodevelopmental services was growing materially faster than clinical supply.

For Polly and Steve Branney, the transaction secured the investment, training, and operational scale required to meet that demand — without the founders having to dilute clinical standards or recruit a corporate infrastructure they had no appetite to build themselves.

How the deal came together

The market backdrop

The UK independent mental health and neurodevelopmental sector entered a period of sustained consolidation through 2022 and 2023, driven by post-pandemic demand growth, prolonged NHS assessment backlogs, and increasing recognition of adult ADHD and autism as under-served clinical categories. Well-capitalised platforms — backed by healthcare-specialist private equity and infrastructure investors — moved decisively to acquire established independent clinics with credible clinicians, recurring NHS contract revenue, and regulated CQC-compliant operating models.

For founder-led clinics operating at the scale Oxford ADHD had reached, the strategic window to combine with a larger national platform — without losing clinical identity — was open but not indefinite.

Clinical Partners had been introduced to the Branneys by a third party, and initial conversations were already underway when CapEQ was introduced.

CapEQ's appointment to negotiate final terms

After initial discussions with Clinical Partners had established mutual interest, Polly recognised that the negotiation, structuring, and legal phase of a transaction at this scale required experienced M&A counsel sitting on the founders' side of the table.

CapEQ was appointed through its Transaction Advisory service — a specialist engagement designed for founders who already have a credible buyer in conversation but need senior, independent advisory support to convert that interest into a completed transaction on the right terms.

CapEQ Partner Mark Sapsford led the engagement, joining the process after the buyer had been identified and working with the Branneys to refine the deal structure, defend the valuation, and manage the commercial and legal process through to completion.

Running a process that protected value

The advisory remit covered three things in parallel: securing a valuation that properly reflected the clinic's clinical reputation, recurring NHS-linked revenue, and growth trajectory; structuring the consideration in a way that aligned founder, buyer, and clinical team incentives through transition; and running buyer communications and due diligence in a way that protected day-to-day clinical operations.

Polly continued to lead the clinic throughout. Patient care, clinical recruitment, and NHS partnership work were not disrupted, and the team — many of whom would transfer to Clinical Partners on completion — were insulated from the noise of the transaction until appropriate.

Completing on the right terms

The transaction completed on 20 June 2023 for an undisclosed sum. Deal terms preserved continuity of clinical care for existing patients, retained the Oxford ADHD clinical team within the enlarged Clinical Partners organisation, and protected the standards of assessment and treatment that the Branneys had spent eight years building.

Polly stayed engaged with the clinic post-completion to support a structured clinical handover and ensure that the partnership delivered the patient outcomes both parties had committed to.

Enhancing the Clinical Partners service network

Clinical Partners' national network already covered general psychiatry, psychology, psychotherapy, and outpatient mental health across 22 clinics, in-person and online. The addition of Oxford ADHD & Autism Centre deepened the group's specialist capability in autism and ADHD assessment — a category where independent capacity is structurally short and where regional clinical credibility matters as much as scale. The acquisition is one of several signalled steps in Clinical Partners' long-term strategy to expand specialist neurodevelopmental provision across the UK.

Clinical Partners CEO statement

"We are delighted to bring Oxford ADHD into Clinical Partners. Polly and her team have built a trusted, high-quality service, and together we can enhance and expand mental health support for patients and families."

Dr Alice Parshall, Chief Medical Officer, Clinical Partners

M&A advisory support

The shareholders of Oxford ADHD & Autism Centre were advised by CapEQ, led by Partner Mark Sapsford, and received legal advice from Freeths, led by partner Malin Svanberg Larsson. Clinical Partners was advised by Keystone Law. The price and terms of the deal remain undisclosed.

"Access to mental health support is more critical than ever. This acquisition ensures that even more patients in the Thames Valley and beyond can receive timely and expert care — and that the clinical standards Polly and her team built will continue to scale."

Mark Sapsford, Partner, CapEQ

"We are proud to have supported Oxford ADHD in this exit planning process and look forward to seeing both parties thrive in their combined mission."

Malin Svanberg Larsson, Partner, Freeths

Mark Sapsford, Partner at CapEQ, M&A advisor to Oxford ADHD & Autism Centre on the Clinical Partners deal

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What clients say

“After initial discussions with our eventual acquirer, it became clear that we needed an experienced M&A advisor to guide us through negotiations to completion. Mark Sapsford at CapEQ was recommended to me, and we hit it off straight away. Mark’s personal energy, attention to detail and problem-solving skills proved vital to smooth the path to get everything over the line."

Polly Branney, founder

Oxford ADHD & Autism Centre

About Oxford ADHD & Autism Centre

Founded in Oxfordshire in 2015 by Dr Polly Branney and Steve Branney, Oxford ADHD & Autism Centre grew into a leading independent assessment and treatment provider for autism, ADHD, and related neurodevelopmental conditions.

Operating with a multidisciplinary team of around 40 clinicians — psychiatrists, psychologists, nurse prescribers, speech and language therapists, and specialist coaches — the centre has assessed and supported more than 3,000 patients and partnered with NHS services to extend specialist care across the Thames Valley and beyond.

About Clinical Partners

Founded in 2011, Clinical Partners is one of the UK's largest independent providers of mental health, autism, and ADHD services. The group operates 22 clinics across the UK, offering in-person and online appointments, and supports approximately 40,000 patients each year across the NHS and private sectors.

Services span specialist diagnostic assessments, outpatient psychiatry, psychology, and psychotherapy for children and adults with mental health and neurodevelopmental conditions. The acquisition of Oxford ADHD & Autism Centre forms part of a long-term expansion strategy focused on deepening specialist clinical capacity in high-demand categories.

What acquirers value in UK healthcare and mental health businesses

Strategic acquirers in the UK independent healthcare sector consistently look for the same things: a credible multidisciplinary clinical team, defensible recurring revenue from both private and NHS-linked pathways, CQC-registered operating standards, and a patient base that can scale without diluting clinical quality. For specialist clinics in the autism and ADHD category — where independent capacity is structurally short and NHS waiting lists are at record levels — established clinical reputation and the ability to retain consultants post-acquisition are typically the most valued attributes. A founder-led clinic with stable clinician retention, clean clinical governance, and a route to growth through additional NHS commissioning is well placed to attract competitive interest from national platforms.

Valuation of independent UK healthcare businesses is typically anchored to a multiple of EBITDA, adjusted for clinical risk, revenue concentration, contract longevity, and clinician retention. In UK mid-market M&A — where deal values commonly sit in the £5m–£50m range — specialist clinics with clean governance, strong clinician retention, and growing demand attract premium multiples relative to generalist providers. A structured sell-side process run by an experienced UK M&A advisor is the most reliable way to convert clinical reputation into a defensible commercial valuation and to prevent a first offer from anchoring negotiations below the asset's true worth.

Demand for adult and paediatric neurodevelopmental assessment in the UK has outstripped NHS capacity for several years. Recognition of adult ADHD and autism has increased materially, waiting lists have lengthened, and independent commissioning has expanded. National platforms see acquisition of established regional clinics as the fastest route to credible specialist capacity — far faster than building it organically. For a buyer like Clinical Partners, acquiring an established centre such as Oxford ADHD adds clinical reputation, a multidisciplinary team, and immediate Thames Valley coverage that would take years to replicate from scratch.

The outcome for clinicians and patients depends substantially on the acquirer's integration strategy and on the protections negotiated into the deal. National platforms typically retain clinical teams and patient pathways, because continuity of care is what they are buying. In the Oxford ADHD transaction, the clinical team transferred to Clinical Partners and patient care continued without disruption. The role of a sell-side M&A advisor is to identify and contract for cultural and operational alignment — treating staff and patient continuity as a primary deal objective, not an afterthought negotiated at the last minute.

Founder challenges: selling a UK healthcare or specialist clinic business

The right time to sell a UK healthcare business is shaped by personal, clinical, and market factors in roughly equal measure. Personally: clarity about what comes next and whether the day-to-day still energises you as the senior clinician or operator. Clinically: a stable multidisciplinary team, clean governance, and a track record buyers can underwrite. Commercially: favourable sector dynamics, an active acquirer universe, and sufficient deal flow to run a competitive process. Founders who wait until the business depends entirely on them, or who delay a decision until growth has plateaued, tend to achieve materially lower valuations. The best UK healthcare exits are planned in advance — not improvised in response to an inbound approach.

Transaction Advisory is a specialist M&A engagement for founders who already have a credible buyer in conversation but need senior, independent advisory support to negotiate, structure, and complete the transaction on the right terms. It is the right service when an inbound approach has matured into a real offer, when shareholder alignment needs to be formalised before signing, or when due diligence and legal complexity require an experienced M&A counsel sitting on the founder's side of the table. CapEQ was appointed to Oxford ADHD on this basis — Clinical Partners had approached the Branneys directly, and CapEQ was brought in to structure the deal, defend the valuation, and manage the process through to completion.

A structured sell-side M&A process for an independent UK healthcare business typically runs to between six and twelve months from formal advisor appointment to legal completion. Where a buyer has already approached the founder — as Clinical Partners did with Oxford ADHD — and a Transaction Advisory mandate is used, the negotiation and completion phase alone can be compressed to three to six months. Timelines are influenced by the readiness of clinical, financial, and legal documentation, the complexity of any NHS contracts in scope, the speed of buyer due diligence, and CQC notification requirements. CapEQ agrees a realistic timetable with the founder at the outset and manages the process to it.

Choosing the right sell-side M&A advisor for a UK healthcare business comes down to three things: sector-specific commercial fluency (clinical revenue models, CQC governance, NHS commissioning), a demonstrable track record of completed transactions in regulated sectors, and independence from conflicts of interest. A generalist advisor can run a process; a specialist familiar with the healthcare buyer universe and clinical due diligence will produce a materially different outcome. CapEQ is a Certified B Corporation — Europe's first B Corp M&A boutique, certified in 2021 — and is independently certified to prioritise client outcomes over deal income. Partner Mark Sapsford led the Oxford ADHD engagement after personal referral from a trusted source.

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