Agenda Health, a healthcare-focused M&A advisory firm based in Austin, Texas, played a pivotal role in the recent acquisition of Hope Home Care, an Ohio-based home care provider, by LiveWell Partners. The transaction marks a strategic move for LiveWell, enabling it to expand its footprint into Ohio, a state critical to its growth strategy in the Midwest.
LiveWell Partners is a St. Louis, Missouri-based homecare provider focused on delivering top-tier clinical outcomes to its patients by building great teams through its whole person approach for its colleagues.
We spoke with the Agenda Health executive team behind the deal, as well as LiveWell Partners to gain insights into the deal and the strategic considerations that shaped this acquisition.
Agenda Health’s involvement began by proactively reaching out to Hope Home Care’s ownership team. A representative from Agenda Health shared insights into the deal process.
“[We] contacted the Hope Home Care ownership team while researching well-established Home Care agencies who it felt would make good acquisition opportunities for investors looking to expand or enter the Ohio market,” the representative explained. This outreach underscores Agenda Health’s proactive approach in identifying and facilitating valuable M&A opportunities.
The acquisition came about through a competitive process.
“Agenda facilitated a market process that produced multiple offers, of which the Livewell Partners offer was the one the sellers selected with guidance from our team. The diligence process was smooth as both parties worked together towards closing,” the Agenda Health representative added.
For LiveWell Partners, the acquisition of Hope Home Care represents a strategic milestone as it builds out its geographic presence.
“As LiveWell continues to build out its Midwest geographic footprint, Ohio has always been an important state to us,” a representative from LiveWell stated, emphasizing the significance of this acquisition in their expansion plans.
“Hope Home Care represents a great partner as a first step into that market because of its commitment to build a great team and deliver quality outcomes for its patients,” said LiveWell. “This acquisition opportunity provided LiveWell with the chance to enter a new state with a team known for delivering quality care.”
LiveWell also emphasized that Hope Home Care’s strong track record with Managed Medicaid patients played a key role in their decision.
“We were also intrigued by Hope’s ability to successfully care for Managed Medicaid patients, which is an output of the quality care the agency provides,” the LiveWell representative continued.
While the current home health market faces inherent challenges, such as staffing shortages and rate uncertainty, these factors did not hinder the progress of the deal.
“The staffing environment has become increasingly challenging for home health owners over the last 2 years as caregiver wages have increased,” said the Agenda Health team. “Additionally, while CMS has increased reimbursement rates for home health each of the last two years with an additional increase coming in 2025, these increases have been marginal compared to rising inflation and increasing operating costs.”
In light of these challenges, LiveWell emphasized its commitment to supporting its team to navigate them effectively, ensuring the deal progressed smoothly for all parties involved.
“Our operating philosophy starts with the team, which leads us to pursue planned, purposeful investments in our colleagues that includes competitive compensation, superior day-to-day experience through technology investment, recharge support and career development/advancement opportunities,” said the LiveWell representative. “This establishes a culture that lets our teammates know we care about their success not only professionally, but personally as well.”
Looking ahead, Agenda Health expects the home health market to see increased activity.
“We’ve seen the market for home health cool in the last twelve months as a result of the challenges discussed coupled with a high interest rate environment, but we expect an uptick in activity as we see interest rates fall going into 2025,” the firm shared.
The data certainly reflects this recent slow-down. According to data captured in the LevinPro HC database, there have been 71 Home Health & Hospice (HH&H) transactions announced year-to-date (as of October 14). Out of the total HH&H deals announced year-to-date, 31 specifically focus on the home health subsector, accounting for approximately 44% of all M&A activity in the HH&H market. During Q3:24, there were 18 deals announced in the HH&H space, representing a 40% decrease from the 30 deals announced during the previous quarter and a 25% decrease from the 24 deals announced during Q3:23.
Deals like LiveWell’s acquisition of Hope Home Care reflect the continued focus on long-term value despite short-term challenges. As the industry prepares for potential changes on the regulatory front, the upcoming election could introduce new dynamics that further influence M&A trends in the home health sector. As always, the LevinPro HC team will remain tuned in to monitor how these shifts affect the trajectory of home health M&A.
Check out our other interviews conducted with the Agenda Health team:
- Agenda Health Advises Angel Senior Home Care on Sale – A Look Behind the Deal
- Regency Home Care Sale and Home Health M&A Trends – A Conversation with Stephen Sargent of Agenda Health
- Q&A with Agenda Health: Pennant Group Expands with Southwestern Hospice Acquisition
- Assured Hospice Acquisition and Home Health M&A Trends – A Conversation with Alex Veach of Agenda Health
- Agenda Health Advises It’s About Time in Its Sale to Community Based Care
- Agenda Health Facilitates Sale of HealthKeeperz’s Home Health Business to BAYADA Home Health Care
- Home Health Valuations Steady Despite Crushing Labor Costs: An Interview With Al Veach & Jason Harrison of Agenda Health
