The Vistria Group and Centerbridge Partners are “weighing options” around the future of Help at Home, including a potential sale.
Bloomberg first reported the news late Tuesday, citing “people with knowledge of the matter.”
Based in Chicago, Help at Home is one of the largest providers of home- and community-based services (HCBS) in the country. It has more than 180 branch locations across 11 states, and provides care to more than 66,000 people via its 53,000 caregivers.
Private equity firms The Vistria Group and Centerbridge Partners – which bought a majority stake in Help at Home from WellSpring Capital Management in 2020 – are working with advisers to gauge interest in the provider.
Bloomberg’s sources said that Help at Home could be valued at “$3 billion or more,” and that a formal sale process could begin as soon as the first quarter of 2024. The Bloomberg report did add that there’s “no certainty” current deliberations will end up in a sale.
Representatives from Help at Home and The Vistria Group both declined to comment on the matter when reached by Home Health Care News. Centerbridge Partners did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publishing.
When The Vistria Group and Centerbridge originally took over, Help at Home’s executive team received a makeover. CEO Chris Hocevar, President Tim O’ Rourke and COO Ray Smithberger all joined the company in 2021.
COVID-19 had thrust home care into the spotlight, which resulted in more providers considering IPOs. At the time, Bloomberg that Help at Home was a candidate for a potential IPO.
Other companies, such as the home health provider Aveanna Healthcare Holdings (Nasdaq: AVAH), did go public. BrightSpring Health Services, another HCBS provider, pulled back on plans to go public, but is now reportedly once again planning an IPO.
Since 2020, Help at Home has been very acquisitive. Its most noteworthy buys came in 2022 when it acquired Edison Home Health Care and Preferred Home Care of New York.
Those immediately made Help at Home one of the largest home care providers in New York, as the company added 10,500 new clients and 12,000 new employees.
The company furthered its density in Pennsylvania in January of this year as well, adding Open Systems Healthcare – along with its 1,500 clients and over 2,000 caregivers – to its portfolio.
Help at Home’s footprint generally covers the Midwest, the Northeast and the Southeast.
“We’re looking at a lot of different transactions in a lot of different states,” Rich Tinsley, the chief development officer at Help at Home, told HHCN last year. “I’m not sure we want to jump across the country for a one-off state unless it made a lot of sense or had some size to it. We’re going to be diligent and disciplined around our geographic footprint. But if it makes sense and is a good platform as we enter a new state, we’ll do it.”
On The Vistria Group’s end, it is one of the most active home-based care backers in the country.
In addition to Help at Home, its portfolio includes: the home health providers Mission Healthcare and Vital Caring; the home health software company Medalogix; and the post-acute enablement company tango, among others.
Centerbridge Partners portfolio, on the other hand, also includes the large HCBS provider Sevita.
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