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Private Equity Health Care Acquisitions – May 2021

June 8, 2021

In light of the growing investor interest in health care and the risks associated with private equity ownership of health care companies, the Private Equity Stakeholder Project will be tracking private equity-backed health care acquisitions. Below is a list of private equity health care buyouts and add-on acquisitions completed during May 2021. We will continue to track acquisitions on a monthly basis.

See April 2021 acquisitions here.

Community Psychiatry/Mindpath Care Centers— Centerbridge Partners, Leonard Green & Partners

Community Psychiatry, which is owned by private equity firms Leonard Green & Partners and Centerbridge Partners, has acquired Mindpath Care Centers. Community Psychiatry’s acquisition of Mindpath will double its size to over 900 employees at over 75 locations in California, Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida and Texas.[1]

Leonard Green and Centerbridge acquired Community Psychiatry in December 2020 from private equity firm New Harbor Capital. Since then, the company has replaced almost its entire executive team and begun acquiring and rolling up other mental health companies.[2]  In March, Community Psychiatry bought Harbor Psychologist, a psychiatric and psychological services company in Lakewood and Long Beach, California.[3]

Both Leonard Green and Centerbridge have come under fire for problems at other health care companies they own, raising questions about how they will ensure that quality of care at Community Psychiatry does not suffer under their ownership.

For example, Centerbridge owns the Mentor Network, which provides residential and other services to adults and children with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Mentor has come under fire for allegations of widespread abuse, neglect, and deaths in its foster care and group home programs. Yet despite profound quality issues, Centerbridge has collected almost half a billion dollars in debt-funded dividends from Mentor over the course of its two-year ownership.[4]

See: Private Equity Has Already Reaped Hundreds of Millions of Dollars of Debt-Funded Dividends from Health Care Companies in 2021

Leonard Green also owns multiple health care companies that have experienced declines in quality of care under its ownership. Over the course of its ten-year ownership of safety net hospital chain Prospect Medical Holdings, Leonard Green and minority owners collected over $650 million in debt-funded dividends despite the hospitals’ deteriorating conditions that jeopardized patient care.[5]Leonard Green also co-owns Aspen Dental with Ares Management, which has had numerous consumer complaints and allegations that its profit-driven business practices directly impacted patient care. Aspen has paid at least $1.7 million in settlements with state attorneys general since 2010.[6]

Private equity ownership of behavioral health companies has come under scrutiny for troubling impacts on patient care. The pursuit of outsized returns over short time horizons may lead to harmful and risky behavior, such as reducing staffing, relying on unlicensed or under-licensed providers, or pressure on staff to provide unnecessary and potentially costly services.[7]Industry analysts expect private equity to continue targeting behavioral health companies and driving acquisition activity in 2021, especially in specialties like autism services.[8]

See our September 2020 report: Understaffed, Unlicensed, and Untrained: Behavioral Health Under Private Equity

Given risks of private equity investment in behavioral health and Leonard Green and Centerbridge’s track records with other health care companies, Community Psychiatry’s growth merits substantial scrutiny.

Buyouts

CompanyPE FirmType
RendrAscend PartnersPhysician group
ConvenientMDBain CapitalUrgent Care
Transaction Data SystemsBlackRockHealth tech
IcarioCVC Capital PartnersHealth tech
CORA Health ServicesH.I.G. CapitalPhysical therapy
SymeresKeensight CapitalContract research organization
Therapy BrandsKKRHealth tech/Behavioral health
Ladd Dental GroupLead Capital PartnersDental services
VirtuHealthLevitate Ridge CapitalBehavioral health
Gastro HealthOMERS Private EquityDigestive health
Axia Women’s HealthPartners GroupWomen’s health
Pion (Billerica)SFW Capital PartnersMedical supplies
BlackTree Healthcare ConsultingSheridan Capital PartnersHealth care consulting/outsourcing
Simione Healthcare ConsultantsSheridan Capital PartnersHealth care consulting/outsourcing
Harry Co.Silverbridge Capital GroupBehavioral health
MediSpendSusquehanna Growth EquityHealth tech
G2 Bio Management CompanyTemasek HoldingsBiopharmaceuticals
GreenphireThoma BravoHealth tech
MedalogixVistria GroupHealth tech

Add-On Acquisitions

CompanyPE FirmAcquiring EntityType
Comprehensive FinanceAccel-KKR and Boathouse CapitaOrthoFiHealth tech
Independent Medical Expert Consulting ServicesApax PartnersKEPROIndependent medical exams
CareSpot Family of Urgent Care BrandsAres Capital, Mosaic Health Solutions and Echo Health VenturesFastMed Urgent CareUrgent Care
HealthcareSourceAres Management, Clearlake Capital Group, New Mountain Capital and SkyKnight CapitalSymplrHealth tech
SPH AnalyticsAres Private Equity Group, Leonard Green & Partners, The Abu Dhabi Investment AuthorityPress Ganey AssociatesHealth tech
Reveal BiosciencesArsenal Capital PartnersCellCartaMedical devices
The Avoca GroupArsenal Capital Partners, Leonard Green & Partners, MSD Private Capital, Novo Holdings and Annox CapitalWIRB-Copernicus GroupHealth care consulting
PatientPingAuburn Hill Capital, Clearlake Capital Group, Insight PartnersApprissHealth tech
Simple AdmitBain Capital and Nexxus HoldingsHST PathwaysHealth tech
Anona Medical CenterBeecken Petty O’Keefe & CompanyClaremedica Health PartnersPrimary care
MindPath Care CentersCenterbridge Partners and Leonard Green & PartnersCommunity Psychiatry ManagementBehavioral health
Spectrum DermatologyChicago Pacific FoundersPinnacle DermatologyDermatology
All-Ways AccessibleCinvenNational Seating & MobilityMedical devices
DynaRadColton Capital Partners and Four Wire InvestmentsNational Imaging SolutionsMedical devices
AmeracareDorilton CapitalTraditions Home Health CarHome health & hospice
Jellyfish HealthEir Partners and Pamlico CapitalMillenniaHealth tech
Aspenti HealthFive Arrows Capital Partners and Rothschild & CoAverhealthBehavioral health
Mendell Machine and ManufacturingFrazier Healthcare PartnersEPTAM PrecisionMedical devices
East Atlanta Gastroenterology AssociatesFrazier Healthcare PartnersUnited DigestiveDigestive health
Rocklin Physical TherapyGryphon Investors and Harris Preston & PartnersPhysical Rehabilitation NetworkPhysical therapy
Hutcheson Homecare Pharmacy (Long-Term Care Division)Hutcheson Homecare PharmacyGuardian Pharmacy ServicesPharmacy services
Proven Process Medical DevicesKidd & CompanyNextPhase Medical DevicesMedical devices
Mirus BioKKRGamma BiosciencesBiopharmaceuticals
American Dental PartnersKKRHeartland Dental CareDental services
Summit Research NetworkKKRHeadlands ResearchMedical research
Camargo Pharmaceutical ServicesMetalmark CapitalPremier Research GroupPharmaceuticals
JF Autism ServicesNew MainStream CapitalCenter for Social DynamicsBehavioral health
Calvert LaboratoriesNovo HoldingsAltasciencesContract research organization
Village DermatologyOMERS Private Equity and PenfundForefront DermatologyDermatology
Philips (Aging and Caregiving Business in Framingham, Massachusetts)Onex Falcon, Rock Ventures and Rockbridge Growth EquitConnect AmericaHome health
Novus ClinicPartners GroupEyecare PartnersEye care
Dest Dental ManagementSerent CapitalSenior Dental CareDental services
Retina Care SpecialistsShore Capital PartnersEyeSouth PartnersEye care
Georgia Eye Physicians and SurgeonsShore Capital PartnersEyeSouth PartnersEye care
Artifact HealthSilversmith Capital Partners and Bain CapitalIodine SoftwareHealth tech
IAC AssociatesSummit PartnersVertava HealthBehavioral health
180 Health PartnersSunwater Capital and Equality Asset ManagementMindoulaBehavioral health, women’s health
Included HealthThe Carlyle GroupGrand Rounds HealthLGBTQ health platform
Doctor On DemandThe Carlyle GroupGrand Rounds HealthTelehealth
Freehold Physical TherapyThomas H. Lee PartnersProfessional Physical TherapyPhysical therapy
PRO Sports Physical Therapy of WestchesterThomas H. Lee PartnersProfessional Physical TherapyPhysical therapy
Genesis Healthcare PartnersTriton Pacific Capital Partners, Beach Point Capital Management, GMB Capital PartnersUrology Partners of AmericaUrology
Motion OrthopaedicsVarsity Healthcare PartnersThe Orthopaedic Institute Orthopaedic services
Gottlieb TempVarsity Healthcare PartnersDuvaSawkoRevenue cycle management
Muse HealthcareVistria GroupMedalogixHealth tech
Nuventra Pharma SciencesWater Street Healthcare Partners and JLL PartnersCATO SMSPharmaceuticals
Hope for TomorrowWebster Equity PartnersBayMark Health ServicesBehavioral health
Goodfellow Occupational TherapyWellspring Capital ManagementHealthPRO HeritageOccupational therapy

[1]https://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/news/2021/05/12/community-psychiatry-doubles-with-acquistion.html#:~:text=Sacramento%2Dbased%20Community%20Psychiatry%20Management,Carolina%2Dbased%20MindPath%20Care%20Centers.

[2]https://bhbusiness.com/2021/02/05/former-dialysis-ceo-takes-the-reins-of-community-psychiatry-eyes-nationwide-expansion/

[3]https://www.psychcongress.com/article/community-psychiatry-management-acquires-harbor-psychologist

[4]https://pestakeholder.org/private-equity-has-already-reaped-hundreds-of-millions-of-dollars-of-debt-funded-dividends-from-health-care-companies-in-2021/

[5]https://pestakeholder.org/update-leonard-green-led-ownership-collected-658-million-from-safety-net-hospital-company-despite-challenges-commitment-to-regulators-to-forgo-dividends/

[6]https://pestakeholder.org/leonard-green-partners-reaps-repeated-payouts-from-health-care-companies/

[7]https://pestakeholder.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/PESP-behavioral-health-9-2020.pdf

[8]https://bhbusiness.com/2021/01/29/private-equity-to-fuel-behavioral-ma-in-2021-with-outpatients-models-driving-demand/

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