NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Vestar Capital Partners (“Vestar”), a leading private equity firm, today announced a majority equity investment in Veritas Collaborative, LLC (“Veritas”), a premiere specialty hospital system for the treatment of eating disorders, headquartered in Durham, North Carolina. Terms of the transaction – which closed today – were not disclosed.
“There is a large, unmet demand for the services and treatments offered by Veritas,” said Andrew J. Cavanna, Managing Director and Co-Head of Vestar’s Healthcare Group. “We are looking forward to working with Veritas to expand its operations and bring its highly successful approach to more patients and more geographies. We are excited to be backing the seasoned and knowledgeable management team at Veritas, which is led by Founders Stacie McEntyre, Chase Bannister, and Jeff Clark.” Mr. Cavanna said that the majority of Vestar’s initial investment in Veritas will be directed toward growth opportunities.
“With Vestar as our partner, we have the opportunity to drive a new standard of care in the eating disorders field, and become one of the leading eating disorders hospital systems in the world,” said Founder and Executive Board Chairman Jeff Clark.
"The Vestar team understands that our culture of excellence is driven by a culture of collaboration,” said Stacie McEntyre, Veritas Collaborative’s Founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer. “They support our vision of a world in which all persons with eating disorders have access to best practice care and hold hope for a cure."
Chase Bannister, Veritas Collaborative’s Founder, Senior Vice President, and Chief Strategy and Clinical Integrity Officer, confirmed that the new partnership is targeted at addressing the significant gaps in specialty eating disorder treatment options in the southeastern U.S., particularly at inpatient, residential, and partial hospitalization levels of care. "Vestar will provide additional expertise and resources to help us do what we do best: re-nourish the bodies and minds of those suffering with eating disorder illnesses and re-empower families to take on roles as primary mediators of recovery."
“The Veritas team has a unique, powerful combination of clinical expertise and business acumen," said James L. Elrod, Jr., Managing Director of Vestar Capital Partners. “We have been impressed with the commitment of its team to delivering innovative, world-class care and the outstanding results they have produced to date. We believe in the Veritas mission and we are fully committed to support the growth of this enterprise for years to come.”
Latham & Watkins, LLP and Waller Lansden Dortch and Davis LLP served as legal advisors to Vestar Capital Partners. James M. O’Connell, PLLC, served as legal advisor to Veritas Collaborative. Avondale Partners, LLC, served as financial advisors to Veritas Collaborative.
About Veritas Collaborative
Founded in 2010, Veritas Collaborative, LLC, is a specialty hospital system for the treatment of eating disorders headquartered in Durham, North Carolina. Veritas Collaborative’s first flagship hospital centers on the care of children and adolescents with severe eating disorders. Veritas delivers best-practice, comprehensive care for persons with eating disorders at inpatient, sub-acute inpatient/acute residential, partial hospitalization, and intensive outpatient levels of care. For more information, please visit www.veritascollaborative.com.
About Vestar Capital Partners
Vestar Capital Partners is a leading U.S. middle-market private equity firm currently managing approximately $5 billion in capital. Specializing in management buyouts and growth capital investments, Vestar invests and collaborates with incumbent management teams and private owners in a creative, flexible, and entrepreneurial way to build long-term enterprise value. Vestar has extensive experience investing across a wide variety of industries including Consumer, Healthcare, Diversified Industries, and Financial Services. Since Vestar’s founding in 1988, Vestar funds have completed more than 70 investments in companies with a total value of more than $40 billion. For more information, please visit www.vestarcapital.com.
