Ontario Teachers’ acquires majority interest in Acorn Health
TORONTO, ONTARIO / CORAL GABLES, FLORIDA – Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board (Ontario Teachers'), today announced the acquisition of a majority stake in Acorn Health, a leading national provider of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy for children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
As part of the transaction, Acorn Health founder and Chief Executive Officer, Vicki Kroviak, as well as other senior management, will retain a meaningful ownership stake in the company. MBF Healthcare Partners II, L.P., who have supported Acorn Health since its founding in 2018, will sell its ownership stake and fully exit the business. Terms of the transaction are not being disclosed.
Acorn Health’s mission is to provide life-changing ABA therapy services to children diagnosed with autism. They operate a network of 51 clinics across seven U.S. states and provide both center-based and in-home services.
"We are excited to partner with Acorn Health and grow our portfolio of leading healthcare platforms. The company provides tailored and high-quality care to young individuals with autism, allowing them to live fuller, more independent lives ," said Karen Frank, Senior Managing Director, Equities at Ontario Teachers’. "We look forward to working with Vicki and the management team as they grow the business further and continue having a positive impact on the lives of these children and their families."
“Our new partnership with Ontario Teachers’ gives Acorn Health additional capabilities to invest in our people, our systems and our clinical infrastructure. We see a substantial need and will continue building a sustainable company offering a highly important service to children with ASD so that they may live their most independent and meaningful lives,” said Vicki Kroviak, Chief Executive Officer at Acorn Health. “We are appreciative of MBF’s guidance and support over the last several years in helping us build a leading ABA therapy company with a national reach.”
Acorn Health is the latest investment to complement Ontario Teachers’ long history of global healthcare investing including building leading physician practice management platforms in dental, veterinary, ophthalmology, and dermatology. Recent investments include US-based NVISION Eye Centers, and New Zealand and Australia-based dental clinic operator, Abano Healthcare.
Calex Partners served as financial advisor to Acorn Health on this transaction.
About Ontario Teachers’
Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board (Ontario Teachers') is the administrator of Canada's largest single-profession pension plan, with C$227.7 billion in net assets (all figures at June 30, 2021 unless noted). It holds a diverse global portfolio of assets, approximately 80% of which is managed in-house, and has earned an annual total-fund net return of 9.6% since the plan's founding in 1990. Ontario Teachers' is an independent organization headquartered in Toronto. Its Asia-Pacific region offices are located in Hong Kong and Singapore, and its Europe, Middle East & Africa region office is in London. The defined-benefit plan, which is fully funded as at January 1, 2021, invests and administers the pensions of the province of Ontario's 331,000 active and retired teachers. For more information, visit otpp.com and follow us on Twitter @OtppInfo.
About Acorn Health
Acorn Health is a national provider of applied behavior analysis (ABA) therapy for children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder with locations in Michigan, Illinois, Virginia, Florida, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee. Acorn Health is deeply committed to industry-leading quality clinical care and is accredited as a Behavioral Health Center of Excellence® (BHCOE) offering both center-based and in-home services. Founded in October of 2018, our mission is to give children diagnosed with ASD the opportunity to live more independent and meaningful lives.
Contact
Hugh Christopher
Ontario Teachers’
media@otpp.com
+1 (416) 844-7463
Whitney Jones
Acorn Health
wjones@acornhealth.com