Alpine Portfolio Company Buys AmeriBest Home Care; Towerbrook, Ascension to Acquire Compassus

TEAM Services Group acquires AmeriBest Home Care

TEAM Services Group, a portfolio company of Alpine Investors, has purchased AmeriBest Home Care from Boyne Capital, a Miami-based private equity firm. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Philadelphia-based AmeriBest is a home agency that provides services that include long-term care, skilled nursing, medical social work, physical and occupational therapy, as well as non-medical personal care. The agency serves over 1,000 clients.

TEAM facilitates caregiver support for older adults and people with disabilities; it currently operates in 23 states. Parent company Alpine Investors is a San Francisco-based PE firm that specializes in middle-market companies in the software and services industries.

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As a part of the agreement, AmeriBest will continue under its current name and will operate within TEAM Public Choices, TEAM’s Medicaid and state-sponsored disability programs service division.

Additionally, Omar Khanataev will remain in his current role as AmeriBest’s CEO.

“We are absolutely thrilled to partner with TEAM,” Khanataev said in a statement announcing the news. “It was clear from the onset that we shared the same vision, strategy, and philosophy for home- and community-based services in helping our patients lead dignified and independent lives.”

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AmeriBest is far from Alpine Investors’ first foray into the in-home care space. In May, the firm acquired Circle of Life Home Care Anishinaabe Inc., a Minneapolis, Minnesota-based home care agency that focuses on serving Native American communities.

Last year, Alpine Investors acquired Advantage In-Home Services, which was formerly part of St. Louis-based Advantage Nursing Services Inc., a pediatric care provider with locations in Missouri and Illinois.

Lincoln International served as the financial advisor to AmeriBest during the completion of the deal.

Towerbrook, Ascension Health to buy Compassus

Health system Ascension Health and PE firm Towerbrook Capital Partners will reportedly purchase Nashville, Tennessee-based Compassus, according to reports from PE Hub.

While Compassus is known for its hospice services, the post-acute care company also provides palliative and home health care services; it has more than 125 locations in 30 states across the U.S., according to the company’s website.

As part of the deal, Towerbrook Capital Partners and Ascension Health will split ownership of Compassus 50/50, with each holding an equal stake, according to PE Hub. The publication noted that the agreement values Compassus at more than $1 billion.

Additionally, former investors Formation Capital and Audax Private Equity will no longer hold stakes in Compassus after the deal officially closes. Barclays, Merrill Lynch, Capital One, Jefferies and Houlihan Lokey are providing financing for the deal.

Home Health Care News most recently reported talks of a possible Compassus sale in January. Rumors about a deal had been swirling for months, though nothing materialized, possibly due to high demand for hospice assets and — equally high valuations.

In general, hospice has become an attractive asset and its demand has largely driven home health, home care and hospice M&A transaction activity in Q2, according to data from M&A advisory firm Mertz Taggart.

In total, there were about 14 hospice-related transactions in Q2 2019, an increase over the eight deals that took place in Q2 2018.

While there are a few reasons why hospice has dominated the market over home health, the upcoming Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM), the biggest overhaul to the home health industry in roughly two decades, has been singled out as a main cause.

In comparison to the home health market, the hospice reimbursement landscape is comparatively stable, experts point out.

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