Advocate Health has sold off its senior home care business Senior Helpers to private equity firm Waud Capital for an undisclosed sum, the organizations announced last week.
Senior Helpers, based in Maryland, is among the space’s largest players with over 380 franchised and owned locations across 44 states, Canada and Australia.
Its offerings aim to delay the need for seniors to move from their homes into inpatient facilities and include meal planning, transportation and medication reminders as well as care for chronic neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s.
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Chicago-based Waud Capital, which describes itself as “a growth-oriented” middle-market investor and is no stranger to the home care market, said it aims to support Senior Care with enhanced services and broader reach. Its first move, according to the announcement, has been to install Steve Jakubcanin, Waud Capital executive partner and former CEO of long-term specialty hospital operator Cornerstone Healthcare Group, as executive chairman of Senior Helpers’ board.
“The need for high-quality, in-home senior care has never been greater. We see opportunities to enhance our suite of senior services as part of the next phase of the company's growth," Senior Helpers CEO and co-founder Peter Ross said in a release. "Waud Capital brings deep expertise in supporting and successfully growing healthcare companies, a set of similar core values, and a shared vision for the future.”
Prior to its merger with Atrium Health to form Advocate Health, Advocate Aurora Health acquired Senior Helpers back in 2021 from another private equity firm, Altaris Capital. At the time, the health system pointed to a strategic goal of expanding its reach “beyond traditional clinical care settings.”
That plan shifted gears after the late 2022 merger, kicking off a sale process that spanned most of 2023 before Waud Capital was selected as the final buyer, Ross recently told Home Health Care News.
Despite the sell-off, Advocate Health Chief Innovation and Commercialization Officer Rasu Shrestha said the large nonprofit “remains committed to collaborating with innovative companies like Senior Helpers to advance health care transformation and enhance outcomes among our patients aging in place.”
Waud Capital has already invested heavily in the home care and post-acute space. It currently holds stakes in Concierge Home Care, PromptCare and Ivy Rehab and had previously invested in CarePoint Partners, Regency Hospital Company and DS Medical.
Senior Helpers is the latest sign of Waud Capital’s commitment to the market, heads of the firm said in the announcement, and a continuation of its strategy to match proven executive leaders to well-positioned companies.
"We strongly believe in the value of services that enable seniors to thrive independently and affordably in the comfort of their own homes,” Waud Capital Principal Kyle Lattner said in the announcement. “We are excited to partner with Steve [Jakubcanin], Peter [Ross] and the Senior Helpers team to continue providing best-in-class client care and exceptional support to our franchisee partners while also capitalizing on significant opportunities to expand the company's footprint and services."