home healthcare

Silver Oak to Acquire Caring People

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Silver Oak Services Partners has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Caring People, a home healthcare agency, in partnership with the company’s management.

Caring People is a Community Health Accreditation Program (CHAP) accredited home healthcare agency and one of the few agencies of scale serving the private-pay market. The company offers hourly companion care, live-in care, and skilled nursing services to seniors from its branch locations in New York – Babylon, Bronx and Queens; New Jersey – Clifton and Toms River; Florida – Delray Beach, Miami, Pompano Beach, and Jupiter; and in Norwalk, CT. Caring People was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in New York (www.caringpeopleinc.com).

In partnership with Silver Oak, Caring People recently completed the acquisitions of Victoria’s Compassionate Nursing Care Management, Stellar HomeCare, Brooke’s Homecare, and Caring Partners, all providers of private-duty home healthcare services. These acquisitions expanded the company’s footprint in the New Jersey market and established a presence in Connecticut.

“It was critical to find a partner who shared our vision for growth and quality care while supporting the Caring People mission and culture. In Silver Oak we found a like-minded partner who shares our enthusiasm for the industry and the commitment to support our continued efforts,” said Steven East, Founder and CEO of Caring People. Upon closing of the acquisition, Mr. East will retain a significant ownership stake in the business alongside Silver Oak and will continue in his current role, along with the rest of the existing management team.

Silver Oak believes home healthcare is an attractive sector for investment due to the aging population, increasing desire by seniors to age-in-place, and highly fragmented nature of the industry.

“We are excited to partner with Steven and his team at Caring People,” said Greg Barr, Managing Partner at Silver Oak. “They have developed a strong reputation as a premier provider of home healthcare services in their markets. We look forward to helping the team bring their high-quality, technology-enabled service offering to new markets through add-on acquisitions and de novo branches.”

Silver Oak Services Partners makes control investments of $10 million to $30 million in companies with revenues from $15 million to $150 million and EBITDAs from $4 million to $20 million. As the firm name implies, sectors of interest include business, healthcare, and consumer services.  Silver Oak was founded in 2005 and is based in the Chicago suburb of Evanston (www.silveroaksp.com).

Silver Oak and Caring People are actively seeking complementary add-on acquisitions of home healthcare agencies.

© 2017 Private Equity Professional | November 16, 2017

Halifax Sells Caring Brands to Levine Leichtman

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The Halifax Group has sold its portfolio company Caring Brands International, a franchisor of home healthcare services, to Levine Leichtman Capital Partners.

Caring Brands operates under three brands: Interim HealthCare (US); Bluebird Care (UK and Ireland); and Just Better Care (Australia).  In November 2012, Halifax invested in Interim HealthCare, a home health care franchise company.  In partnership with Halifax, the management team executed a plan to grow the business organically, adding 42 new US franchise locations, and through acquisitions, adding 210 new locations in six countries through the buys of UK based Bluebird Care in September 2013 and Australia-based Just Better Care in October 2014.

No financial information on the sale was provided but Halifax has characterized the sale as a successful investment for the firm.  “Our successful investment in Caring Brands is the continuation of Halifax’s long history of investing in both healthcare and franchising and is the result of our partnership with the highly dedicated Caring Brands team,” said Ken Doyle, managing director, Halifax.

Halifax formed Caring Brands International (CBI) in September 2013 to serve as the holding company for its brands and operations. Together, the CBI brands represent 530 locations operated by more than 250 independent franchise owners that produce over $1 billion of system wide sales.   CBI is led by CEO Kathleen Gilmartin and COO Mike Slupecki and is headquartered west of Ft. Lauderdale in Sunrise, FL (www.caringbrandsintl.com).

“Halifax’s experience and understanding of the complex nature of healthcare services and franchising allowed them to provide invaluable strategic guidance,” said Ms. Gilmartin.  “We have been able to execute against a very aggressive growth strategy, re-energize our domestic growth effort and extend our footprint across four countries. Halifax brought a unique approach and skill set that our team greatly appreciated.”

The Halifax Group invests in lower middle-market businesses across a variety of industries including health and wellness, infrastructure, business and government services and franchising. The firm has offices in Washington, DC; Dallas, TX; and Raleigh, NC (www.thehalifaxgroup.com).

“Under Kathleen Gilmartin and Mike Slupecki’s leadership, Caring Brands’ management team and employees executed a masterful growth plan during our partnership,” said Scott Plumridge, principal at Halifax. “From energizing new franchise development to expanding onto two new continents, together we have truly transformed the business into a global brand in home health franchising.”

Piper Jaffray (www.piperjaffray.com) and North Point Advisors (www.nptadvisors.com) were the financial advisers to Halifax and Caring Brands on this transaction.

© 2015 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 9-30-15