GP records put private equity ownership in the spotlight
The acquisition of Optum UK, the owner of EMIS, a major supplier of GP IT systems, for a reported $400 million (£293.5 million) by the US private equity company TPG has caused alarm according to an article in The Guardian, amid concerns that sensitive health data is increasingly being handled by private companies. EMIS supplies electronic patient record systems to more than half of GP practices across England.
GP practices themselves remain the legal data controllers for their patient records; suppliers of digital systems process data on their behalf under NHS contractual and data-protection arrangements.
The deal was completed in March 2026, and marked UnitedHealth’s exit from the UK primary care software market.
A wider pattern of interest is emerging. Eclipse Corporate Finance, a company involved in the private equity and venture capital sector, noted “continued investor appetite for critical healthcare infrastructure, particularly software assets with embedded market positions, recurring revenues and long-term public sector relationships.” Its review of the second quarter of 2026 said private equity was involved, directly or indirectly, in more than 60% of the healthcare transactions it tracked.
Full article in The Lowdown, 1 September 2026
