Waud Capital Partners has acquired Ivy Rehab Network in partnership with the company’s founder and CEO Michael Neuscheler and the president of Ivy Midwest, Dave Franklin.
Ivy Rehab provides management support services to a network of 45 outpatient physical therapy centers – 43 owned and two managed centers – that are located in the Northeast (39 centers in NJ, NY, and CT) and Midwest (6 centers in IL and IN). The company was founded in 2003 and is headquartered near New York City in Harrison, NY (www.ivyrehab.com).
Waud Capital has known Mr. Neuscheler since 2014 when the firm first identified Ivy Rehab as a strong competitor in the physical therapy industry. According to Waud Capital, the acquisition of Ivy is an attractive entry point for the firm into the fragmented and growing outpatient rehabilitation therapy market. Growth for Ivy Rehab will come from a combination of new therapy center openings, acquisitions, and partnerships in both existing and new geographic markets.
Upon closing of the acquisition, Waud Capital added Jeremy VanDevender to Ivy’s senior management team as President and Chief Revenue Officer. Mr. VanDevender worked with Mr. Neuscheler at Ivy for eight years (April 2003 to August 2011) as the Executive Vice President of Business Development and Chief Clinical Officer. He left Ivy in August 2011 to join Accelerated Rehabilitation Centers (ARC) as Senior Vice President of Operations. ARC was acquired by Athletico Physical Therapy in December 2014.
“Waud Capital has been actively exploring investment opportunities in the outpatient physical therapy market for several years,” said Matt London, a principal at the firm. “The underlying dynamics in this highly fragmented market coupled with Ivy’s competitive position in its core markets, its reputation for clinical excellence and patient satisfaction, and the opportunity to assemble a best-in-class management team have created a compelling investment opportunity.”
Waud Capital makes investments from $50 million to $100 million in middle-market companies with enterprise values from $50 million to $250 million that operate in the healthcare services and business services sectors. Since its founding in 1993, Waud Capital has made more than 185 investments, including platform companies and follow-on opportunities. The firm is headquartered in Chicago (www.waudcapital.com).
© 2016 Private Equity Professional • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 5-10-16
