Autism and behavioral health provider The Stepping Stones Group announced its plans to purchase therapeutic behavioral health company HM Therapy for an undisclosed sum.
Founded in 2006 HM Therapy is focused on providing pediatric behavioral health services. The California-based company is able to offer care in a variety of settings including in the home, in a community space, at school, through teletherapy or in a hybrid model.
HM Therapy offers occupation therapy, physical therapy, speech language pathology, psychology, behavioral service, education service and infant education.
Stepping Stones also provides pediatric behavioral health services in schools and at-home. The company was founded 30 years ago and now services over 1,000 clients and 200,000 children in 42 states.
After the acquisition HM Therapy’s CEO and founder Kyle Heeber will join Stepping Stones as Senior Advisor. Meanwhile Alice Heeber, school-based services director and co-owner of HM Therapy, will serve as President and COO, K-12 Practice.
“This is an exciting opportunity for us to continue to provide developmental services to infants and adolescents in schools and homes and expand our presence in the San Diego area and we are delighted to have HM Therapy join our team,” Tim Murphy, CEO of Stepping Stones, said in a statement.
This isn’t Stepping Stones’ first acquisition. Earlier this year Stepping Stones purchased The Southcoast Autism Center. In 2021 the company made three acquisitions: EBS Healthcare, Futures and Behavioral Learning Center. Other notable acquisitions include New England ABA, Star of CA and Ador School Solutions.
Stepping Stones was purchased by private equity group Five Arrows Capital Partners in 2017. However, in 2021 news emerged that Five Arrows initiated a competitive sale process aimed at private equity buyers. Stepping Stones is still listed in Five Arrow’s portfolio companies.
Behavioral health M&As are on the rise. While mental health and substance use are the most popular areas for M&As, there were just under 200 M&A deals in the autism space in the last five years, according to Dexter Braff research.
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