Acorn Health — a national provider of applied behavior analysis (ABA) therapy — has acquired the ABA therapy assets of Concord Foundations Network.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Founded in 2018, Coral Gables, Florida-based Acorn is a portfolio company of the private equity (PE) firm MBF Healthcare Partners. It provides center-based and in-home ABA therapy services to children with autism.
Meanwhile, Columbia, Maryland-based Concord does the same, according to a press release announcing the news. On its website, Concord says it provides capital and a full suite of services to help autism and early childhood developmental disorder services providers in its network grow.
The deal will allow Acorn to expand its services into three new states: Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee. Additionally, it will help the provider enhance its current capabilities in Michigan and Virginia.
As a result of the transaction, Acorn’s network now includes 35 clinics across seven states, where it serves more than 1,200 families.
The deal is the latest in a relatively long line of recent acquisitions by Acorn. For example, in May, the provider acquired Alexandria, Virginia-based Behavior Basics, LLC, just a few months after nabbing Macomb, Michigan-based Autism University in January and O’Fallon, Illinois-based Behavior Therapy Specialists in December 2019.
In the months to come, the provider’s pipeline is likely to remain robust: Acorn “continues to seek partnership opportunities with high quality providers in existing and new markets,” according to the press release.
Acorn’s robust M&A strategy is in line with the larger hunger PE firms have for autism providers, with their appetite being driven by the rising rates of autism diagnoses and the increases in insurance coverage for autism treatment nationwide.
“We’re in a period now where a lot of private equity [firms have] made their initial investments,” Eugene Goldenberg, managing director at health care-focused investment bank Edgemont Partners, told Behavioral Health Business back in January. “Now they’re going to be looking to bolt on numerous acquisitions to buy down their multiple.”
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