Houlihan Lokey Advises Vital Care

Houlihan Lokey is pleased to announce that Vital Care Infusion Services (Vital Care), a portfolio company of Linden Capital Partners (Linden), has received a strategic investment from Berkshire Partners (Berkshire) and Leonard Green & Partners (LGP). The transaction closed on July 30, 2024. Houlihan Lokey served as the exclusive financial advisor to Vital Care.

Vital Care is a franchisor of infusion pharmacies, dedicated to serving secondary, tertiary, and underserved communities across the United States. The Vital Care franchise network spans the country, with more than 160 infusion pharmacy locations providing high-quality, safe, convenient, cost-effective infusion therapy services for chronic and acute patients at a local level.

Linden is a Chicago-based private equity firm focused exclusively on the healthcare industry. Founded in 2004, Linden is one of the country’s largest dedicated healthcare private equity firms. Linden’s strategy is based upon three elements: (i) healthcare specialization, (ii) integrated private equity and operating expertise, and (iii) its differentiated human capital program. Since its founding, Linden has invested in more than 45 healthcare companies encompassing over 350+ total transactions. The firm currently manages approximately $8 billion of regulatory assets under management.

Berkshire is a 100% employee-owned, multisector specialist investor in private and public equity. The firm’s private equity team invests in well-positioned, growing companies across technology and communications, consumer, healthcare, and services and industrials. Since its inception, Berkshire has made more than 150 private equity investments and has a strong history of collaborating with management teams to grow the companies in which it invests. The firm’s public equity group, Stockbridge, founded in 2007, manages a concentrated portfolio seeking attractive long-term investments.

LGP is a leading private equity investment firm founded in 1989 and based in Los Angeles with more than $75 billion of assets under management. The firm partners with experienced management teams and often with founders to invest in market-leading companies. Since its inception, LGP has completed more than 150 investments in the form of traditional buyouts, going-private transactions, recapitalizations, growth equity, and selective public equity and debt positions. The firm primarily focuses on companies providing services, including consumer, healthcare, and business services, as well as distribution and industrials.

This transaction further highlights Houlihan Lokey’s leadership in the pharmacy and infusion-related services sector, becoming its ninth closed M&A transaction in this space since 2020 and the third transaction in the space within the past three months. This transaction also highlights Houlihan Lokey’s broad franchising expertise, becoming its eighth closed franchisor transaction since 2020. In 2023, the group closed 34 transactions and was ranked by LSEG (formerly Refinitiv) as the No. 1 advisor for all global healthcare M&A transactions.*

Houlihan Lokey served as the exclusive financial advisor to Vital Care and assisted in initiating, structuring, and negotiating the transaction on its behalf.

*Excludes accounting firms and brokers.

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