Vesey Street Capital’s Elite Body Sculpture hits the market

Vesey Street Capital Partners has kicked off a sale process for Elite Body Sculpture, as a safer and less painful alternative to liposuction sees rapid growth, PE Hub has learned. 

MTS Investment Banking is providing sell-side financial advice on a process, sources familiar with the firm’s plans said. 

A broad process just launched and is expected to command interest from a range of private equity groups examining Elite Body Sculpture through healthcare and consumer lenses. It’s possible the business will draw interest from the SPAC community – which has shown a knack for growthy business models. 

Led by founder, CEO and cosmetic surgeon Dr. Aaron Rollins, Elite Body Sculpture is on a trajectory to reach roughly 50 centers over the next three years, up from 15 today, sources said. The Miami company generates north of $30 million in EBITDA, they said. 

New York’s Vesey Street, which invests in mid-market healthcare services companies, completed its recap of Elite Body Sculpture in January 2019 – marking the first investment out of its second vehicle. 

On a mission to “revolutionize the body sculpting industry,” Elite Body Sculpture is a physician services business that provides minimally invasive treatment for removing unwanted fat – serving as an alternative for traditional liposuction with its non-surgical fat reduction and fat transfer procedures. 

The company is known for its proprietary AirSculpt procedure, whose patented body contouring technology was developed by Rollins to “remove the fear and pain of fat removal,” the company states on its website. The procedure requires no needles, scalpels, stitches or general anesthesia, the company says, providing quick recovery and resulting in less bruising and no noticeable scarring. 

Elite Body Sculpture has benefited from macro trends that include the retailing of healthcare and a booming industry for cosmetic aesthetics. Once taboo, the demand for cosmetic surgery has seen significant growth over the last several years. 

Since 2000, the amount of minimally invasive cosmetic procedures has skyrocketed by an increment of 200 percent, Elite Body Sculpture said in a post last year. 

Besides white space for growth, the company operates a cash-pay model with no risk relating to third-party reimbursement – an attractive characteristic to many in the sponsor community. Built around a de novo expansion strategy, the low costs to open new centers are further appealing. 

Elite Body Sculpture, with a strong social media presence on platforms like Instagram, has done well through covid-19, a source said, with the customer acquisition cost actually declining. 

The process comes on the heels of notable activity in the broader cosmetic aesthetics industry, with private equity-backed HydraFacial agreeing to a $1.1 billion SPAC merger in December. 

HydraFacial, whose 30-minute signature facial is likened to a medical treatment and viewed as an alternative to microdermabrasion, is backed by Linden Capital Partners and DW Healthcare Partners. 

In connection with its business combination with Vester Healthcare Acquisition Corp, Linden has so far generated an 8x return on original invested capital based on the SPAC’s current share price, LP sources with knowledge of the matter told PE Hub in December. 

For Vesey, the process follows its November recapitalization of QualityMetric, whose health surveys provide patient reported outcomes and clinical outcomes assessments during the clinical trial process. In connection with the transaction, former Optum executive Garth “Gus” Gardner was brought on as CEO of QualityMetric. 

Vesey declined to comment, while Elite Body Sculpture could not be reached.