Charlesbank Capital Partners to Acquire Action Behavior Centers at $840M Valuation

Charlesbank Capital Partners reportedly won out in an auction for the Austin-based Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy provider Action Behavior Centers LLC.

Axios Pro reports that the Boston-based middle-market private equity firm reached a deal with Action Behavior Centers’ previous owner NexPhase Capital LP three weeks ago. Action Behavior Centers has an $840 million valuation and $60 million in projected annual adjusted earnings.

Neither Charlesbank Capital Partners nor NexPhase Capital LP has responded to a request for comment.

NexPhase Capital invested in Action Behavior Centers in 2018. At that time, the firm highlighted the massive imbalance between ABA providers and the number of children diagnosed with autism in its announcement. NexPhase intended to help “rapidly” expand in Texas and in other states.

At that time, Action Behavior Centers had five locations, all in Texas. Today, it lists open and soon-to-be-opened locations in Texas, Colorado, Illinois, North Carolina and Arizona on its website.

This appears to be Charlesbank’s only current foray into behavioral health, based on the portfolio it lists on its website.

In July, Axios reported that NexPhase Capital was mulling a sale of Action Behavior Centers.

The sale comes after strong growth in behavioral health deals in 2020 and 2021. The M&A consulting firm Mertz Taggart reports that private equity firms in the first half of the year have made 74 transactions in behavioral health. Mertz Taggart tracked 69 transactions during the first half of 2021. The fourth quarter saw 54 deals while the whole of 2021 saw 158.

In the combined autism and intellectual and developmental disabilities fields, Mertz Taggart tracked 7 transactions in the second quarter and 13 in the first half of the year.

In May, Pathways Health and Community Support, LLC announced it acquired West Virginia-based Psychological Assessment & Intervention Service Inc. (PAIS) for an undisclosed sum.

Boston-based The Stepping Stones Group announced that it acquired HM Therapy in June and Center for Behavioral, Educational and Social Therapies in July.