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Executives at Home Health Care News’ FUTURE conference said home-based care acquisitions increasingly hinge on sustainable growth, clinical quality and cohesive leadership, not EBITDA alone. Buyers are also keeping some former owners and executives involved after closing, sometimes with continuing equity stakes.
Home-based care acquisitions are increasingly extending beyond closing, with buyers looking beyond earnings to sustainable growth, care quality and leadership, according to executives speaking at Home Health Care News’ FUTURE conference. Some buyers are also keeping sellers involved in acquired businesses, with continuing leadership roles or ownership stakes.
Panelists said EBITDA remains part of valuation, but does not by itself show whether a company can keep growing. Dustin Distefano, chief operating officer of franchise operations at A Place At Home, said sellers can support their value by demonstrating organic growth, building infrastructure and developing their teams. He said a business that has stopped growing may be viewed less favorably even if its financial results appear strong.
Aveanna Healthcare CEO Jeff Shaner emphasized clinical quality alongside growth. He said he would favor a slower-growing business with stronger quality over a faster-growing company lacking the same commitment to care. Bill Mixon, an executive partner at private equity firm Waud Capital, said buyers also assess whether a company’s leadership team is cohesive and its culture is clear, particularly as investors focus on fit with their investment plans.
The panelists also described more continuing roles for sellers. Shaner said Aveanna seeks to make sellers equity owners and leaders in acquired operations. Distefano, a co-founder of A Place At Home, remained with the company as COO after its acquisition by Dovida in February. A Place At Home’s joint venture approach can also let franchise owners retain minority stakes and continue as general managers.
Growth and Quality Shape Deal Value
The panel’s account points to a broader set of questions for home-care owners considering a sale: whether growth is sustainable, whether care quality can be maintained and whether the existing leadership team can support the next phase. Those factors may affect both a buyer’s view of a company and the seller’s role after a transaction, according to the executives.
For sellers, remaining with a business can mean continued influence and a stake in its future performance rather than a complete exit at closing. For buyers, retaining experienced leaders may help preserve operational knowledge as they integrate an acquisition. The conference comments describe the participants’ approaches; they do not establish that every buyer is adopting the same model.
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Recent Deals Illustrate the Shift
The comments came as home-based care businesses continue to attract buyers across several service lines. Aveanna provides home health care, hospice, private duty nursing and medical services across 39 states, according to the report. It closed a $175.5 million acquisition of Family First Homecare in June, adding 27 locations across seven states.
A Place At Home was acquired by Dovida in February. The Omaha-based provider offers non-medical in-home care, care coordination and Alzheimer’s and dementia services, among other offerings, across 22 states. Distefano’s appointment as COO after the deal is one example cited by the report of a founder continuing in an operating role. The article did not provide transaction terms for the A Place At Home deal.
“If you’re showing organic growth and infrastructure, and that you’re building your team, your value’s going with it.”
— Dustin Distefano, chief operating officer of franchise operations at A Place At Home
How Broad the Shift May Be
The conference report presents executives’ views and company practices, not market-wide transaction data. It does not quantify how often sellers remain after a sale, how frequently buyers offer equity, or how much organic growth, clinical outcomes or leadership affect final valuations.
Specific terms of the A Place At Home-Dovida acquisition were not provided, and the source does not detail the structure or financial terms of the joint ventures involving A Place At Home franchise owners. It is also unclear whether the approaches described will apply across different types and sizes of home-care providers.
Deal Terms Will Test the Approach
The source report did not identify a forthcoming policy, transaction deadline or industry-wide milestone. The next evidence will come from future deal terms and post-acquisition arrangements: whether buyers continue to retain sellers, offer equity or operating roles, and how they weigh care quality and sustainable growth against financial performance.
For owners preparing for a sale, the panelists’ guidance was to be ready to demonstrate more than earnings. They pointed to sustained growth, developed infrastructure, strong clinical standards and a capable leadership team as factors buyers may examine. Whether those elements translate into higher valuations will depend on individual buyers and transactions.
Key Questions
What is changing in home-based care acquisitions?
According to executives at the FUTURE conference, buyers are looking beyond EBITDA to consider sustainable organic growth, care quality, infrastructure and leadership. Some are also keeping sellers involved after closing.Does EBITDA still matter to buyers?
The panelists did not say EBITDA is irrelevant. Distefano said earnings alone may not show whether a business has sustainable growth or the infrastructure and team to support it.Do sellers always stay with the acquired company?
No. The report describes examples and approaches, including Aveanna’s effort to keep some sellers as leaders and equity owners. It does not show how common this is across the industry.What examples did the report cite?
It cited Aveanna’s $175.5 million acquisition of Family First Homecare, which closed in June, and A Place At Home’s acquisition by Dovida in February. A Place At Home co-founder Dustin Distefano stayed on as COO after that deal.Source: rss
