BHC Sector Booms as Acadia Healthcare Explores a Sale

BHC Sector Booms as Acadia Healthcare Explores a Sale

Mergers and acquisitions in the Behavioral Health Care sector are booming in 2018, with 68 transactions made public through mid-October, 21% higher than the total in 2017. Now comes the report that one of the sector’s largest publicly traded companies, Acadia Healthcare Company (NASDAQ: ACHC), is in talks with a few interested parties to sell itself, and most likely go private. On October 18, Reuters reported the Franklin, Tennessee-based company was fielding interest from the private sector, naming KKR & Co. (NYSE: KKR) and TPG Global as two firms that have approached Acadia. With a market cap of $3.4 billion and debt of $3.14 billion (less $79.5 million cash), Acadia... Read More »
Behavioral Health Care Deal Trends in 2017

Behavioral Health Care Deal Trends in 2017

The Behavioral Health Care sector has enjoyed growing interest from private equity and other investors in recent years. Federal legislation regarding coverage of mental health conditions certainly boosted that interest, as has the growing public acceptance of the magnitude of need for services. Also, the fragmented nature of this sector has kept platform-building acquisitions rather low. From a focus standpoint, behavioral health care covers mental health issues, as well as substance abuse, eating disorders, autism spectrum services and care for individuals with developmental disabilities. Co-morbidities often exist, particularly between mental health and substance abuse conditions. Then... Read More »
PE Firms Target Behavioral Health, Eating Disorder Programs

PE Firms Target Behavioral Health, Eating Disorder Programs

Behavioral health care has never been a particularly active sector, but deal volume has increased year-over-year between 2010 and 2016, growing 412% in that time. And there’s a good chance that 2017 will continue this trend. Through August 30, 32 behavioral health care deals have been announced, up 7% compared with the same period last year. So what else is going on this year? So far, we haven’t seen anything close to a mega-deal. The largest price tag this year was Care Capital Properties’ (NYSE: CCP) $380 million acquisition of the real estate assets of six behavioral health hospitals from Signature Healthcare Services LLC, dba Aurora Behavioral Health. This was the second... Read More »

Behavioral Health Care Market Is Healthy, Not Frothy

The Behavioral Health Care M&A market has enjoyed six years of strong growth, following passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010. The market peaked at 41 deals announced in 2016, with $3.4 billion in combined spending. Despite the uncertainty surrounding the ACA’s replacement, merger and acquisition activity is still strong in the early months of 2017. Tailwinds are stronger than headwinds. Destigmatization of addictions, mental health issues and other disorders has brought attention to the care needed by millions. There is still significant, unmet need in many sub-sectors, such as acute care psychiatric beds. De novo building is easing some of that need, and could lead to more... Read More »

Acadia Healthcare Tidies Up Its UK Portfolio

With three announced acquisitions on the books in 2016, Acadia Healthcare Company (NASDAQ: ACHC) was forced to sell some of its portfolio, for a change. The Franklin, Tennessee-based behavioral health company has been quite active over in the United Kingdom since 2014, when it acquired Partnerships in Care (PiC) for $662 million.At the time, PiC was the second largest independent provider of behavioral healthcare services in the United Kingdom, operating 23 inpatient psychiatric facilities with more than 1,200 beds. The sale worked out to 2.3x price-to-revenue and 8.8x price-to-EBITDA. In 2015, Acadia added Care UK, Choice Lifestyles and The Manor Clinic. Care UK operates 15 inpatient... Read More »