Some M&A experts predicted that dealmaking activity around home medical equipment (HME) would rebound in 2024. That appears to be happening.
On March 6, PruittHealth Medical Supply announced its acquisition of Allied Health Resources (AHR), a supplier of respiratory and other medical equipment and support services. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“This acquisition strategically aligns with our vision to provide services to patients and centers within the PruittHealth family and the communities we serve,” Ryan Beddingfield, chief operating officer of care integration for PruittHealth, said in a statement.
PruittHealth Medical Supply is an affiliate of Norcross, Georgia-based senior living and post-acute care provider PruittHealth.
Founded in 1969, PruittHealth provides a continuum of services, from skilled nursing and senior living services, to home health, hospice and palliative care, among other offerings. The organization serves about 24,000 patients daily across 180 locations in Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina and South Carolina.
Following the transaction, all AHR technicians and customer service partners have been retained by PruittHealth Medical Supply, according to the statement.
AHR provides health-care products and services to long-term care facilities across the Southeast. The company currently has customer agreements in Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Alabama, Florida, Tennessee and Mississippi, according to its website.
“We look forward to integrating the AHR services into our existing infrastructure and logistics with the goal of expanding support and services to our customers,” Beddingfield said.
Contextually, HME M&A activity saw a dip in 2022 and 2023, partly because of the macro-economic trends that affected health-care dealmaking broadly, including inflation and rising interest rates.
But Patrick Clifford, a managing director with The Braff Group, previously told HME Business that he expected M&A volume to rebound in 2024. Tailwinds for HME M&A include the increasing number of hospital-at-home programs in the U.S., the overarching shift to home-based care and the nation’s aging population, Clifford previously explained.
“There’s no question the aging demographic is very attractive for home medical equipment – the aging demographic and the need for healthcare,” Clifford said. “And that has attracted outside investment through private equity as well.”
