Literature Review

The Pennant Group to seek more hospice, home health deals in 2025 Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 11/7/24 The Pennant Group (Nasdaq: PNTG) has a “robust pipeline” of potential acquisitions in the wings for 2025 across its home health and hospice and senior living business segments. For prospective deals, Pennant scouts for agencies that show strong promise for organic growth that have “talented” local leaders or entrepreneurs in place, according to CEO Brent Guerisoli. Pennant then leverages the resources in its platform to foster growth. “Developing local leaders remains at the heart of our operating model,” Guerisoli said in a Q3 earnings call. “As the talent and experience operations and clusters deepens with strong portfolio companies, our efforts throughout our footprint, we are able to more quickly improve new acquisitions and grow seasoned operations, thus the significant investment we have made in our leadership and development programs is the catalyst for enduring momentum.” Pennant is the holding company for a cluster of independent hospice, home health and senior living providers located across 13 states. Year to date, the company has added more than 60 CEOs to its portfolio agencies as well as 40 internal clinical leaders.

Addus leaders dive further into Gentiva deal, ‘historically low’ turnover rates Home Health Care News; by Joyce Famakinwa; 11/5/24 Completing the acquisition of Gentiva’s personal care operations is still top of mind at Addus HomeCare Corp. (Nasdaq: ADUS). The $350 million transaction was first announced in June. Addus Chairman and CEO Dirk Allison explained how he believes the deal will better position the company for the impacts of the “Ensuring Access to Medicaid Services” rule. “We believe our personal care segment benefits from both scale and broad geographic coverage in the states where we operate,” Allison said Tuesday during the company’s third-quarter earnings call. ..."

Chicago Pacific Founders sells 20 communities valued at $725 million to Ventas McKnights Senior Living; by Kathleen Steele Gaivin; 11/1/24 Chicago Pacific Founders sold 20 senior living communities to real estate investment trust Ventas this week, the healthcare investment firm announced Thursday [10/31]. The properties are valued at $725 million, “representing one of the most significant senior housing portfolio sales in the United States for 2024,” according to CPF. “Senior living is a core investment strategy and one we continue to grow by purchasing and establishing new institutional-quality communities, and this sale demonstrates the strength and attractiveness of this asset class,” CPF founder and Managing Partner Mary Tolan said. The 20-property portfolio includes independent living, assisted living and memory care communities located in what CPF called “strategic markets known for strong and growing demand for senior living.”

Pennant acquires senior living communities in Wisconsin Global Newswire; by Pennant Group; 11/1/24 The Pennant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: PNTG), the parent company of the Pennant group of affiliated home health, hospice, home care and senior living companies, today announced that it has acquired the operations of the following premier senior living facilities in Green Bay and Appleton, Wisconsin. The acquisition is effective today, November 1, 2024, and will be subject to a long-term, triple net lease:

Mission Health Services acquires Angel’s Crossing Home Hospice Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 11/4/24 The long term care company Mission Health Services has acquired Utah-based Angel’s Crossing Home Hospice. Mission is a nonprofit provider of nursing home, assisted living, short term care, memory care and therapy services. The M&A advisory firm Agenda Health facilitated the transaction. Financial terms were undisclosed. The deal marks Mission’s first foray into the hospice space. “The sellers made the strategic decision to divest their business to pursue a new venture. Their goal was to reallocate their time, energy and resources towards founding a hospice in a different region of the country,” Stephen Walters, senior director for Agenda Health, told Hospice News in an email. 

Covenant Care deal a growth engine for Vitas Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 10/30/24 VITAS Healthcare’s acquisition of Covenant Health and Community Services hospice business has emerged as a growth engine for the company. In April, VITAS acquired Covenant’s hospice operations as well as one assisted living facility in an $85 million deal. The transaction brought VITAS into the Alabama market and expanded its geographic footprint in Florida and marked the company’s entry into the assisted living space. Covenant Health contributed close to $11 million to VITAS’ $391.4 million third quarter revenue, which is up 17.3% year over year. In addition to the acquisition, the company in Q3 saw an 15.5% increase in average daily census (ADC) reaching 21,785. Admissions also rose 6.3% to 16,775.

Cigna considers Humana acquisition – What it means for the stocks MarketBeat; by Jea Yu; 10/29/24 There has been speculation of a massive merger in the medical sector between two massive health insurers. Specifically, the rumor is The Cigna Group NYSE: CI is interested in acquiring Humana Inc. NYSE: HUM. The conjecture caused both stocks to react, as Cigna stock fell 10% as the rumored surfaced on Oct. 18, 2024, and Humana stock remained relatively flat. Based on the reactions, the market doesn't see this as a favorable merger, and for good reason. While there are many potential synergies in a merger, assuming it passes the regulatory antitrust sniff test (which is a big "if"), there is also a major sticking point that sinks any possibility of it coming to fruition called Medicare Advantage (MA). 

Healthcare trends & transactions Q3 2024 Bass, Berry & Sims; by Bass, Berry & Sims, PLC; 10/21/24 In the healthcare mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market, while deal volumes varied across different sectors, by and large the sure and steady pace of deal volume in Q2 continued into Q3. Moreover, several positive developments in Q3—namely, the Federal Reserve (finally) cutting interest rates, the courts striking down the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) national ban on non-competes, and California Governor Newsom’s vetoing Assembly Bill 3129—may serve as the catalysts needed to boost activity as we head into the final stretch of 2024.

Martis Capital rumored to purchase Three Oaks Hospice’s in $150m deal Hospice News; by Holly Vossel; 10/18/24 The private equity firm Martis Capital may soon acquire Dallas-based Three Oaks Hospice for a price tag ranging from $150 million to $160 million. Rumors of the potential sale appeared today in an Axios report, in which unnamed sources reportedly confirmed the deal. The Nashville-based investment and management company Petra Capital currently owns Three Oaks Hospice, which reportedly generates between $10 and $13 million in EBITDA, Axios indicated. Rumors that the hospice was considering a potential sale were first reported last month by the website Ion Analytics. The private-equity backed company provides hospice, palliative care and bereavement services across 28 locations in seven states. 

Minnesota-based Saint Therese to acquire St. Mary of the Woods Senior Community in Avon, Ohio AP; by Barb Hemberger; 10/15/24 Continuing to build its footprint in the Midwest, Saint Therese, an aging care and services leader based in the Twin Cities, today announced it will acquire St. Mary of the Woods in Avon, Ohio, near Cleveland. The transition of ownership is expected to occur on December 1, 2024. This is the second acquisition for Saint Therese in two years and the second in the region, following the purchase last year of IHM Senior Living Community in Monroe, Michigan. ... Saint Therese at St. Odilia in Shoreview specializes in hospice and palliative care. Saint Therese is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) senior care organization. 

FTC finalizes premerger rule: 9 things to know Becker's Hospital Review; by Alan Condon; 10/10/24 The Federal Trade Commission voted 5-0 to finalize changes to premerger notifications under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act, which requires organizations to report large transactions to the FTC and Justice Department for antitrust review. "Premerger review is a critical task for the antitrust agencies and to do it well, we need information about each deal's potential antitrust risk," Shaoul Sussman, associate director for litigation of the FTC's bureau of competition, said in an Oct. 10 news release. "This rulemaking is a much needed update to address changes in the marketplace that have undermined the agencies' ability to detect and prevent illegal mergers, while at the same time creating a more efficient review process. Nine things to know: [Click on the title's link for this list.]

National Health Investors announces $121.3 million acquisition, largest deal since 2020; pipeline at $305 million McKnights Senior Living; by Lois A. Bowers; 10/10/24 National Health Investors is acquiring a portfolio of 10 assisted living and memory care communities in North Carolina for $121.3 million in what the real estate investment trust says is its largest deal since 2020, the year the COVID-19 pandemic started. The Murfreesboro, TN, REIT announced the transaction Thursday morning in a business update. The properties, which have a combined 522 units, will continue to be managed by Spring Arbor. NHI says that the portfolio bears “no material impact” from Hurricane Helene.

Inside palliative care at Contessa’s Health System joint ventures Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 9/27/24 Contessa, the innovation and high-acuity arm of Amedisys Inc. has made large investments in expanding access to palliative care, particularly through joint ventures with health systems. Amedisys acquired Contessa in 2021 for $250 million. The subsidiary’s specialty is high-acuity care in the home, including hospital-at-home and skilled nursing facility-at-home programs, but in recent years it has also leaned hard into growing its palliative care business. For now, Amedisys shows no signs of slowing down on palliative care. Expanding palliative care relationships and joint venture partnerships is a priority for 2024, the Louisiana-based home health and hospice provider indicated in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) earlier this year.