David Sanders joins CG Results and leads expansion in Care Services

We are delighted to announce that David Sanders joined CG Results International Group as a Managing Director in the CG Results Healthcare team. David will work globally based at our London office. With his appointment, CG Results Healthcare will for the first time expand into care services advisory, encompassing residential care, home care and multi-site medical services.

David brings nearly two decades of advisory experience and is a highly knowledgeable healthcare banker. In his career as a sector specialist, David has advised clients across private and public markets on pharma services, healthcare infrastructure, care services, medical technology and cross-border transactions.

Tell us about your career before CG Results Healthcare, and what is it you love about care services?

David Sanders leads expansion into care services
I started my career in 2000, when the City was afloat on dotcom hysteria and a lot of the working practices we take for granted, were absent or just emerging. My first employer was ING Barings, who ran a heavily staffed information centre, whose job was to help junior bankers dig out data for use in projects and pitches. I remember one of the team there answering a query by referring me to this new and interesting website called Google.

The world has moved on a long way from there and changing client expectations are always driving how advisory firms operate. ING Barings, for example, was mostly set up to provide general M&A advice, but as time has gone by, sector specialism has gone from being a rarity to a necessity. If there’s a common thread in my career to date, it has been that – a gravitation from a generalist
environment at the outset, to DC Advisory where I first began to specialise in healthcare, to CG Results Healthcare where of course it is the focus of the whole team.

Care Services is a sector that I would take interest in, even if my career took me elsewhere – for better or for worse, it is strongly influenced by the political environment, but you can also see societal shifts playing out in the care arena. For example, with regards to how mental health issues are addressed. The best part, however, is that the sector attracts some managers who have a real sense of vocation – it is a privilege to work with people who are driven, as many are, by a desire to improve the lives of people receiving care.

What is the most interesting deal you’ve worked on?

I led the sale last year of a division of a public company. It was interesting from a technical point of view, because it was a carve-out with some technical complexity, but we also had an interesting development shortly before launch – the company lost its most profitable contract, and then another in quick succession. In situations like that, you really feel like your advice counts – much more so than if a company is beating every forecast and no surprises happen. Our client decided a sale was still their preferred outcome, so we changed course, assembled a different bidder group, worked hard to keep the momentum up, and ultimately got our client the exit they were looking for.

What led your decision to join CG Results Healthcare? And why now?

I had noticed some of the deals CG Results had been advising on – they are clearly making an impact on the market, so I came to the first meeting with a healthy respect already for the work CG Results were doing. I was attracted by the chance to work in a sector-dedicated team, where everyone from top to bottom has the same focus – I think this allows clients to benefit from a different level of insight. The clincher was that the culture at CG Results is very positive and progressive, which makes me proud to be a part of the firm. I’m joining at an exciting time for our team, as we expand our breadth within Healthcare, and as we add scale to build on recent successes.

It’s an exciting time with CG Results Healthcare expanding its care services advisory. What areas of care services do you specialise in?
I am a healthcare M&A advisor, so care services is a part of what I do rather than the totality. Even within care, though, the spread is broad, encompassing residential care, children’s services, dentistry, eye care and more. That’s a good thing – the variety makes for an intellectually stimulating sector to work in.

We have six values – which one resonates with you the most?
CG Results values: Excellence | Trust | Positivity | Communication | One Team | Accountability

Communication. I think it’s something advisers get wrong quite a lot as a professional body, and certainly as an individual I can sometimes put tremendous thought and effort into the precise wording of an email or presentation slide, but not enough into the basics, which are at least as important, whether internally or externally. So, I am relieved to be in an environment where it’s expected that everyone is talking to everyone all the time – it makes for a buzzy atmosphere, which I think carries over into the way we work with clients.