Private Equity Health Care Acquisitions – December 2024

In light of continued investor interest in healthcare and the risks associated with private equity ownership of healthcare companies, the Private Equity Stakeholder Project is tracking private equity-backed healthcare acquisitions. Below is a list of private equity healthcare buyouts, growth investments, and add-on acquisitions completed during December 2024. We will continue to track acquisitions on a monthly basis.

See November 2024 acquisitions here.

Home health, hospice, and home care deals surge in December

December saw eight deals in the home health, hospice, and/or home care sectors, summarized in the table below.

Home care

Three private equity-owned home care platform companies made add-on acquisitions in December: Avenues Home Care, Avid Health at Home, & Honor Health Network. Some of these platforms offer both home health and home care services.

• Avenues Home Care is a platform company launched in May 2024 with aims to expand throughout the Southeastern US.[14] It is owned by Capital Alignment Partners.[15] Following its December acquisition, Avenues Home Care has 14 locations across Georgia, Tennessee, and Texas.[16]
• Avid Health at Home was created as a platform company by Haven Crest Management in 2023.[17] It currently has 14 locations across North Carolina and Illinois, serving 99 counties in total.[18]
• Honor Health Network owns 17 home care brands, encompassing 55 locations across nine states.[19]It has been owned by Webster Equity Partners since 2021.[20]

Private equity firms have been investing in the home healthcare industry for many years,^[21] but it appears firms have been ramping up their investments in home care.[22] Home care differs from home healthcare in that it consists of non-medical services to assist with activities of daily living, such as getting dressed, meal preparation, and more.^[23]

Private equity firms likely find home care attractive for a number of reasons. For starters, the US population is aging and there is a growing desire for Americans to age in place and receive care and healthcare services in the home, versus in assisted living and nursing facilities. In addition, home care companies do not have to compete for skilled nursing labor with other agencies and healthcare providers because their services are not medical in nature. And, many state Medicaid programs will reimburse for home care services under their Home and Community-Based Services waivers.[24]

While many home care services are geared toward senior citizens, some home care companies also provide care for people with disabilities, including intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Private equity’s growing involvement in home care is cause for concern. The typical private equity strategy of capturing greater market power in fragmented industries by consolidation could have the effect up driving up the cost of home care services. With the typical private equity focus on short term profit, cost cutting strategies could lead to poor working conditions and pay for caregivers, which could in turn translate to higher turnover and quality of care issues for clients. And, because home care services are not medical care, there are often fewer regulations involved. For example, many states do not require training or licensing for individual caregivers.^[25]

Resources

[1] “About | Clear Path Home Care | Texas Care,” February 18, 2021. https://clearpathhomecare.com/about-us/.

[2] Donlan, Andrew. “The Recently Launched Avenues Home Care Acquires Clear Path Home Care, Expands In Texas.” Home Health Care News, December 16, 2024. https://homehealthcarenews.com/2024/12/the-recently-launched-avenues-home-care-acquires-clear-path-home-care-expands-in-texas/.

[3] Avid Health at Home. “Landing Page – Sandhills at Avid Health at Home.” Accessed January 14, 2025. https://www.avidhealthathome.com/sh1.

[4] Cavanaugh. “Havencrest Buys Sandhills Under Avid Health at Home Platform.” Themiddlemarket.Com, December 30, 2024. https://www.themiddlemarket.com/latest-news/havencrest-buys-sandhills-under-avid-health-at-home-platform.

[5] Golden Years Home Care Services. “Compassionate In-Home Care for Seniors.” Accessed January 14, 2025. https://goldenyearsusa.com/.

[6] “PitchBook Profile – Golden Years Home Care Services – Deal History.” Accessed January 14, 2025. https://my.pitchbook.com/profile/328899-43/company/profile#insights.

[7] HealthRev Partners. “HealthRev Partners High Powered RCM Services,” October 12, 2023. https://healthrevpartners.com/.

[8] Idaho, Doctors Hospice of. “Hospice’s Legacy Carried on by New Local Ownership.” PRLog, December 11, 2024. https://www.prlog.org/13052248-hospices-legacy-carried-on-by-new-local-ownership.html.

[9] Family Matters. “Family Matters In-Home Care | San Francisco Bay Area, Sacramento & San Diego Caregivers.” Accessed January 14, 2025. https://familymattershc.com/.

[10] “PitchBook Profile – Family Matters In-Home Care – Deal History.” Accessed January 14, 2025. https://my.pitchbook.com/profile/139335-13/company/profile#deal-history.

[11] Pediatric Home Service. “Services.” Accessed January 14, 2025. https://www.pediatrichomeservice.com/services/.

[12] Pediatric Home Service. “Find a Location Near You.” Accessed January 14, 2025. https://www.pediatrichomeservice.com/contact-phs/find-a-location/.

[13] Performance Home Medical. “Your Sleep Therapy, Respiratory & HME Experts.” Accessed January 14, 2025. https://www.performancehomemed.com/.

[14] Healy, Adam. “Independent Home Care Agencies Unite under Avenues Home Care Brand.” McKnights Home Care, May 23, 2024. https://www.mcknightshomecare.com/news/independent-home-care-agencies-unite-under-avenues-home-care-brand/.

[15] “Avenues Home Care – Capital Alignment Partners.” Accessed January 14, 2025. https://capfunds.com/portfolio/avenues-home-care/.

[16] Donlan, Andrew. “The Recently Launched Avenues Home Care Acquires Clear Path Home Care, Expands In Texas.” Home Health Care News, December 16, 2024. https://homehealthcarenews.com/2024/12/the-recently-launched-avenues-home-care-acquires-clear-path-home-care-expands-in-texas/.

[17] Havencrest Capital Management. “Havencrest Announces Formation of Non-Medical Home Care Platform,” August 10, 2023. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/havencrest-announces-formation-of-non-medical-home-care-platform-301897394.html.

[18] Avid Health at Home. “Your Compassionate Provider of In-Home Care at Avid Health at Home.” Accessed January 14, 2025. https://www.avidhealthathome.com/locations.

[19] Honor Health Network. “Our Agencies.” Accessed January 14, 2025. https://honorhealthnetwork.com/our-agencies/.

[20] Webster Equity Partners. “Honor.” Accessed January 14, 2025. https://websterequitypartners.com/portfolio/honor/.

[21] Noble, Chris. “Private Equity at Home: Wall Street’s Incursion into the Home Healthcare and Hospice Industries.” Private Equity Stakeholder Project, March 2022. https://pestakeholder.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Home-Healthcare-and-Hospice-report.pdf.

[22] Fischer, John R. “Home-Based Care Deals Driven by Chronic Conditions, Aging Population, Patient-Directed Care.” Content. PE Hub (blog), December 19, 2024. https://www.pehub.com/home-based-care-deals-driven-by-chronic-conditions-aging-population-patient-directed-care/.

[23] Compassus. “How Is Home Health Care Different from Personal Care?” Accessed October 12, 2023. https://www.compassus.com/services/home-health/what-s-the-difference-between-home-health-care-and-home-care/.

[24] “Home & Community-Based Services 1915(c) | Medicaid.” Accessed January 14, 2025. https://www.medicaid.gov/medicaid/home-community-based-services/home-community-based-services-authorities/home-community-based-services-1915c/index.html.

[25] “How To Become A Non-Medical Caregiver – MeetCaregivers,” May 27, 2021. https://meetcaregivers.com/non-medical-caregiver-overview/.