PE-Backed Valeo Acquires Post-Acute Care Business; BrightSpring Finalizes Abode Deal

Valeo Home Health lands Hearts for Hospice & Home Health

Valeo Home Health & Hospice has acquired Hearts for Hospice & Home Health from Abode Healthcare. Valeo is PE-backed provider based in Millcreek, Utah, that provides a mix of post-acute care services

Strategically, the acquisition increases Valeo’s presence in Utah, as Hearts for Hospice & Home Health had dual locations in Fork and Ogden.

Valeo is backed by Grant Avenue Capital, a health care-focused private equity firm that invests in middle-market businesses. Its deal for Hospice & Home Health is the latest development in Grant Avenue’s broader home-based care buy-and-build initiative.

“We plan to accelerate the expansion of Hearts, Valeo and our overall home-based care platform through continued investment in the clinical and leadership teams combined with strategic acquisitions, partnerships and de novo launches,” Buddy Gumina, the founder and managing partner of Grant Avenue Capital, said in a statement.

Valeo was acquired by Grant Avenue Capital in December as part of that buy-and-build platform, which is completely focused on home-based care. This transaction marks Grant Avenue Capital’s sixth corporate carve-out in the past 15 months.

BrightSpring completes Abode purchase

Hearts for Hospice & Home Health is a division of Abode Healthcare, which was also just acquired.

Louisville, Kentucky-based BrightSpring Health Services just finalized — as of April 16 — a deal to acquire Abode Healthcare, a Durango, Colorado-based home health and hospice agency that spans 12 states through its 41 branches. The deal was reportedly worth $775 million.

On its end, BrightSpring serves more than 360,000 patients across all 50 U.S. states through a wide range of home- and community-based services.

“As a leading home health and hospice services provider, Abode and its family of brands across its markets of service will enhance the company’s position and market-leading service levels in the industry,” BrightSpring President and CEO Jon Rousseau said in a statement. “With our combined footprint, we are accelerating the ability to bring a comprehensive, customizable local home health and hospice service model to more communities across the country.”

Caring People announces new acquisition

The home care company Caring People has acquired New Jersey-based Halcyon Elder Care, marking what it called “the first of many” moves planned for 2021.

In December, Caring People — a portfolio company of the PE firm Silver Oaks Services Partners — also acquired Boca Raton, Florida-based Kosher Caregivers and Boston-based Always Here Home Care.

Through memory care, companion care, skilled nursing care and care management services, Caring People serves around 1,700 clients per day in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida and Texas.

Halcyon Elder Care will increase the agency’s service mix by introducing counseling and psychotherapy services, as well as senior fitness programs and caregiver support groups.

“We continue to add additional specialties to serve the senior population, in tandem, we look for companies that strongly align with our company values,” Caring People CEO Steven East said in a statement. “The addition of these services was very exciting to myself and our team of care professionals, we’re always looking for new and innovative ways to bring the most diverse array of care options to our clients.”

Always Compassionate Home Care acquires Wellness Home Care

Always Compassionate Home Care (ACHC) has acquired Goshen, New York-based Wellness Home Care. The acquisition took place at the end of 2020, but was recently announced by the company.

ACHC is based in Melville, New York, and provides personal care, private-duty nursing, clinical care and a host of other home-based services throughout the state.

“We at ACHC feel privileged to build upon the outstanding team and practice developed by Wellness Home Care over the years,” ACHC President Victor Holten said in a statement. “We look forward to expanding our footprint in the Hudson Valley region to better meet the needs of the New York population.”

Hospice by the Bay rebrands

Hospice by the Bay has formally changed its name to By the Bay Health, which reflects its recent entrance into the home health arena and expansion of palliative care services in the California area.

In addition to hospice, home health and palliative care, the provider also offers comfort care, grief counseling and pediatric care.

By the Bay Health is the oldest standing hospice agency in all of California. It provides services to over 1,000 patients, 300 of whom receive care under the company’s home health department. 
“We decided many years ago that we wanted to expand the way that we were thinking about delivering care at home, and we wanted that to include home health care,” By the Bay Health CEO Kitty Whitaker recently told Home Health Care News. “We felt that we were in a position to be able to do this, because we’ve been delivering care in the home for about 45 years.”