Nautic Partners has acquired QoL Meds, an operator of specialty pharmacies that serve the mental health community.
QoL Meds (the “QoL” in the company name stands for “quality of life”) is an operator of on-site behavioral health specialty pharmacies. Over the last five years, QoL has grown from two pharmacies to 87 pharmacies as mental health centers have recognized the value of a pharmacy partner dedicated to serving mental health. The company dispenses over 2 million prescriptions and serves over 50,000 patients annually. In addition to medication dispensing, QoL offers other value-added services including medication assistance and monitoring, outcomes and adherence reporting, customized packaging, patient education, assistance with reimbursement and clinical coordination, and 340b (discount pricing) services. The company was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in Pittsburgh (www.qolmeds.com).
“QoL has developed into one of the largest and most well-respected specialty pharmacies by delivering unmatched quality of care to its patients and clinical partners. QoL’s business model and approach to the delivery of care appropriately balances all constituents of healthcare which is a critical component of our healthcare investing model at Nautic,” said Chris Crosby, Managing Director of Nautic. “We are excited to be partnering with Jim Smith and the entire QoL team and believe that the company is well positioned for continued growth.”
Nautic Partners is a middle-market private equity firm with over $2.5 billion of equity capital under management. Nautic targets majority equity investments of $25 million to $75 million. Sectors of interest include business services, manufacturing, and healthcare. The firm was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Providence, RI (www.nautic.com).
“We are thrilled to partner with Nautic who shares our vision of growth and building the leading provider of specialty pharmacies for the behavioral health community,” said Jim Smith, President and CEO, QoL Meds. “Nautic brings a wealth of healthcare investing experience, and we look forward to partnering with them to continue our mission of improving the “quality of life” for people living with mental illness by establishing a higher level of prescriptive care.”
QoL is Nautic Partners’ fourteenth investment from its most recent fund, Nautic Partners VI, LP, and continues Nautic’s history of investing in the healthcare industry. Other representative Nautic healthcare investments include American Imaging Management, AXIA Health Management, Genova Diagnostics, Healthcare Payment Specialists, Medegen, Reliant Hospital Partners, Superior Vision and Theorem Clinical Research.
“QoL’s services enhance compliance, improve patient quality of care, and reduce healthcare costs,” said Chris Corey, Principal of Nautic. “The market for mental health services is large and growing. With improved diagnosis of mental health disease, increased recognition by payers of active medication treatment protocols, and a continued shift to outpatient care delivery, we believe QoL is uniquely positioned to play an ever increasing role in delivering exceptional care to mentally ill patients and its clinical partners.”
© 2013 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 12-10-13
