Apax, Oak HC/FT jointly buy growing eating disorder treatment platform in $1.4bn deal, PAI bets on Europe’s camping community with ECG

Good morning!

In today’s headlines, Apax and Oak HC/FT have joined hands to acquire Eating Recovery Center in a deal valued at approximately $1.4 billion, sources familiar with the deal terms told me. ERC largely provides eating disorder treatment across various settings, with about 15 percent of revenue stemming from its more recently established mood and anxiety business.

The deal is yet another data point speaking to investors’ appetite for high-growth scale assets in healthcare, and particularly those that bring a technology lever. (Seller CCMP Capital bought ERC for $580m in 2017, sourced told me previously). Although the timeline is not entirely clear, two sources told me the buyer group preempted or accelerated a full sale process from getting underway.

Apax partner Andy Cavanna brings an edge through his prior involvement in the space. Cavanna, while at Vestar Capital, helped lead the firm’s 2015 investment in Veritas Collaborative, a specialty hospital system for the treatment of eating disorders. Oak HC/FT, whose Andrew Adams led the deal for the firm, complements that knowledge with its deep roots at the nexus of behavioral healthcare and virtual care and technology — with current and former portfolio companies including US Healthvest, Quartet Health, Brightline and Therapy Brands.

Both then and now, Cavanna found that the industry faces a shortage of good providers, hence lending to an attractive investment opportunity. “There is more demand for services than providers.” With ERC, the pair of new investors plan to tackle that problem with a “growth thesis to expand access,” he said.

In this case, ERC has the opportunity to expand both physically, and importantly, by leveraging its existing virtual capabilities and expanding digitally, the investors said. After all, behavioral health has proven a particularly applicable use case for telehealth over the last 18 months.

Check out my full report on PE Hub.

Across the pond: PAI Partners has completed the acquisition of European Camping Group, which operates a fleet of over 22,000 units (mostly mobile homes) across more than 310 premium campsites. Its campsites are located in attractive destinations such as France, Italy, Spain and Croatia.

PAI’s investment provides an exit for Carlyle, Ontario Teachers’ and Montefiore Investment.
Besides growing its market presence in certain regions and entering new ones, ECG under its previous backers developed “CampingVision”, an online booking platform for campsites in Europe… Wait a second, was that camping deal actually a tech deal?!

Read PE Hub’s brief for all the deets.

That’s it for me! As always, hit me up at springle@buyoutsinsider.com with your comments, tips or anything else!