Private Equity Health Care Acquisitions – January 2024

In light of the growing 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 or announced during January 2024. We will continue to track acquisitions on a monthly basis.

See December 2023 acquisitions here.

Infusion Therapy
Recent private equity dealmaking in infusion therapy highlights investors’ appetite for infusion services. Infusion therapy administers medications, fluids, or nutrients directly into the body through a vein. It is used to treat a wide variety of acute and chronic conditions including cancer, autoimmune disorders, immune deficiencies, congestive heart failure, infections that
are unresponsive to oral antibiotics, and others.[1]

In January New Harbor Capital announced the creation Access Infusion Care, a new infusion services platform formed by combining New Harbor’s two new acquisitions: Ambulatory Infusion Care North (AIC North) and JLS Infusion Nurse Staffing Services (JLS). AIC North is a home and specialty infusion pharmacy and JLS is nursing service provider specializing in managing complex specialty infusion patients. Both are based in northern Michigan.[2]

New Harbor says that the new platform will aim to acquire infusion therapy providers in underserved geographies with “diversified offerings and delivery settings” – which may refer to  the wider set of infusion therapies typically provided at ambulatory centers compared to hospital settings – as well as target companies with “outsized growth potential.” [3]

Other recent deal activity in infusion services includes:

• Ashlar Capital acquired CarePartners Pharmacy, which specializes in clinical and pharmacy services including ambulatory infusion centers.[4]
• Boyne Capital made an additional growth investment in Infusion Associates Management[5] as it prepares to bring the company to market.[6]
• Peak Rock Capital agreed to sell its infusion services company Paragon Healthcare to insurer Elevance Health.[7]

The infusion therapy market is valued at over $100 billion and expected to grow at a rate of 8.6% CAGR through 2025.[8] The industry’s growth is driven by the rising number of people with chronic conditions (partly due to an aging population), an increase in specialty drugs that require infusion treatment, and a shift from hospital to ambulatory center and home-based infusion therapy.[9]

Infusion therapy is categorized in two classes: traditional (acute) and specialty infusion (chronic). Traditional is generally shorter term (2-6 weeks) and is a continuation of acute care started in a hospital, resulting in higher patient turnover and lower per patient revenue. Specialty infusion is usually prescribed for chronic conditions and includes therapies such as immune globulin and rheumatology. Treatments can last years, resulting in low patient turnover and high per patient revenue.[10]

These factors, buoyed by market fragmentation and thus opportunities for consolidation, have drawn private equity investors’ attention primarily to ambulatory infusion centers (AIC) and home settings.[11]

Gastroenterology
GI Alliance, which is backed by Apollo Global Management, has acquired three gastroenterology practices in Rhode Island: University Gastroenterology, Gastroenterology Associates, and Gastrointestinal Medicine Associates. GI Alliance is a physician practice management company (PPM) operating in 16 states. This is the company’s first foray into Rhode Island.[12]

Apollo invested in GI Alliance in 2022 as part of a physician-led buyout of the company’s previous PE owner, Waud Capital Partners.[13]

Private equity buyouts of gastroenterology providers are on the rise due to opportunities created by increasing rates of colorectal cancer, changing reimbursement practices for screenings, as well as historical fragmentation of the industry.[14]

Private equity consolidation of the gastroenterology market has been associated with price increases, particularly in Metropolitan Statistical Areas (“MSA”) where a single PE firm controls more than 30% of the market. A 2023 study published by the American Antitrust Institute found that PE acquisitions of GI providers were associated with 14.0% price increases, and as much as 18.2% increases where a single PE firm had greater than 30% market share in an MSA.[15]

January 2024 Buyouts

January 2024 Add-on Acquisitions

January 2024 Growth investments

[1] “What Is Infusion Therapy and When Is It Needed?,” Healthline, December 21, 2020. https://www.healthline.com/health/infusion-therapy

[2] “New Harbor Capital Establishes Access Infusion Care in Partnership with Dr. Bruce Kutinsky, Ambulatory Infusion Care North, and JLS Infusion Nurse Staffing Services,” New Harbor Capital, January 2024. https://www.newharborcap.com/news/access-infusion-care/

[3] “New Harbor Capital Establishes Access Infusion Care in Partnership with Dr. Bruce Kutinsky, Ambulatory Infusion Care North, and JLS Infusion Nurse Staffing Services,” New Harbor Capital, January 2024. https://www.newharborcap.com/news/access-infusion-care/

[4] Pitchbook profile for CarePartners Pharmacy, accessed February 21, 2023. https://my.pitchbook.com/profile/571673-35/company/profile#deal-history

[5] Pitchbook profile for Infusion Associates Management, accessed February 21, 2023. https://my.pitchbook.com/profile/236179-63/company/deals#deal-249673-96T

[6] Erin Brodwin and Claire Rychlewski, “Scoop: Infusion Associates coming to market,” Axios, January 3, 2024. https://www.axios.com/pro/health-tech-deals/2024/01/03/infusion-associates-coming-to-market-scoop

[7] Iris Dorbian, “Peak Rock to exit home infusion services provider Paragon Healthcare,” PEHub, January 4, 2024. https://www.pehub.com/peak-rock-to-exit-home-infusion-services-provider-paragon-healthcare/https://www.pehub.com/peak-rock-to-exit-home-infusion-services-provider-paragon-healthcare/

[8] “Infusion Services: Care Setting Shift Drives Growth” Harris Williams, June 28, 2023. https://www.harriswilliams.com/our-insights/infusion-services-care-setting-shift-drives-growth

[9] “Ambulatory Infusion Services Overview,” Edgemont Partners, Fall 2020. https://www.edgemont.com/wp-content/uploads/Edgemont-Ambulatory-Infusion-Services-Overview.pdf

[10] “Infusion Services: Care Setting Shift Drives Growth” Harris Williams, June 28, 2023. Pg. 2. https://www.harriswilliams.com/our-insights/infusion-services-care-setting-shift-drives-growth

[11] “Infusion Services: Care Setting Shift Drives Growth” Harris Williams, June 28, 2023. https://www.harriswilliams.com/our-insights/infusion-services-care-setting-shift-drives-growth Pg. 4.

[12] GI Alliance, “GI Alliance Expands East Coast Presence with Rhode Island GI Partnership,” PR Newswire, January 23, 2024. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/gi-alliance-expands-east-coast-presence-with-rhode-island-gi-partnership-302041383.html

[13] “GI Alliance Announces Physician-Led Buyout Valuing the Company at $2.2 Billion,” Apollo Global Managment, August 19, 2022. https://www.apollo.com/insights-news/pressreleases/2022/08/gi-alliance-announces-physician-led-buyout-valuing-the-company-at-2-2-billion-130056196

[14] “Private Equity Health Care Acquisitions – May 2022” June 15, 2022. https://pestakeholder.org/news/private-equity-health-care-acquisitions-may-2022/

[15] Richard M. Scheffler, Laura Alexander, et al., “Monetizing Medicine: Private Equity and Competition in Physician Practice Markets,” The American Antitrust Institute, University of California at Berkeley (UCB) Petris Center on Health Care Markets and Consumer Welfare, and the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, July 10, 2023. https://publichealth.berkeley.edu/news-media/research-highlights/new-report-exposes-breadth-of-physician-practices-owned-by-private-equity. Pg. 7.