Harden Healthcare acquires Voyager HospiceCare, combined company to provide healthcare services in 13 states

Harden Healthcare announced today the purchase of Voyager HospiceCare. Headquartered in Austin, the combined company will provide healthcare services in 13 states and will employ approximately 32,000 full-time and part-time associates in nearly 200 locations.

Voyager HospiceCare provides hospice and home health services in seven states with an average daily census of more than 2,700 patients, and is the largest hospice provider in Iowa and Kansas. The combination of the two companies will create one of the largest hospice providers in the Midwestern U.S., with more than 2,300 patients. Voyager has 58 hospice locations and 10 home health offices. The acquisition will enable Harden Healthcare to expand home health operations, currently offered in nine states, to Alabama, California and Colorado.

Harden Healthcare was founded in 2001 and consists of several companies that offer a post-acute continuum of care for seniors, including skilled nursing, assisted living, rehabilitation, hospice and home healthcare. With the baby boom generation aging, the market for all senior health services is expected to continue to be robust. Combined revenue for the two companies in 2010 is projected to be $750 million.  

"This merger creates a win-win for our new patients from Voyager who will receive the same great patient care they have come to expect from Voyager HospiceCare, with broader access to services through Harden Healthcare," Lew Little, chief executive officer of Harden Healthcare, said. "Harden will continue to focus our expansion in the central U.S. to provide a post-acute continuum of care for the elderly and infirmed. As a result, those patients will be able to utilize a range of services as their healthcare needs change."  

"Because of our dedicated staff and caregivers, Voyager HospiceCare has been able to serve our patients with the highest level of care," Mike McMaude, chief executive officer of Voyager, said. "This merger will not only benefit the patients we serve, but will bring together two companies that truly understand that the most important assets we have are our people."

After the merger, McMaude will become chief operating officer of Harden Healthcare. Jay Koeper, current chief operating officer of Voyager Hospice, will become president of Voyager, with responsibility for all Harden hospice operations.

Harden's hospice subsidiary, Lighthouse Hospice, will continue to operate under the Lighthouse name, but will be included under the Voyager umbrella. Voyagers' home health operations will be managed by Harden subsidiary Girling Health Care.  

Financing for the acquisition was provided by a mezzanine investment from investment funds or accounts managed by KKR Asset Management as well as an incremental credit facility arranged by KKR Capital Markets and GE Healthcare Financial Services. For competitive reasons and because the two companies are privately held, financial details of the purchase have not been disclosed.