Agape Care Group Acquires Hospice of the Carolina Foothills

Agape Care Group has expanded to North Carolina with the purchase of Hospice of the Carolina Foothills. Financial terms were undisclosed.

Agape is a portfolio company of the private equity firm Ridgemont Equity Partners. Its newly acquired asset operates in eight counties in its home state and will not rebrand in the near term.

“There is a natural fit, culturally and geographically, between our two companies,” said Agape Care Group CEO Troy Yarborough, in a statement. “Our aligned mission to deeply serve communities is evident in the history of care delivered across the Carolinas and has been the core of Hospice of the Carolina Foothills for many years.”

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The deal furthers Agape’s goal of multistate expansion through the Southeast. The South Carolina-headquartered hospice provider also operates in Georgia.

The new transaction is Agape’s second during 2022, following the acquisition of Lanier Hospice in Georgia for an undisclosed sum.

Agape first entered Georgia in 2021 with a de novo in the Augusta community, near the South Carolina border. The company followed that up with the acquisitions of Serenity Care, also in June, and Integrity Hospice in July, both in the town of Dublin, Ga. Financial terms of those transactions were not released.

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The company now operates in more than 66% of the counties in Georgia, as well as every county in South Carolina.

Agape will likely pursue additional transactions throughout 2022, with a continued emphasis on the southeastern United States.

“We’ve been laser focused in the Southeast over the last few years and do feel like it gives us the most near-term upside,” Yarborough previously told Hospice News. “However, we will maintain a nimble approach to M&A and explore all high quality opportunities that present.”

Overall hospice and home health deal volume cooled in the hospice and home health markets during the first quarter of the year, though valuations remain at record-highs for the time being.

A total of 30 transactions occurred during Q1 this year in the hospice and home health space, compared to 41 deals in Q4 of last year, according to a report from Irving Levin Associates, a Connecticut-based M&A firm focused on senior housing and health care transactions.

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