Yes. In fact, the summer months may be one of the best times for home care agency owners to begin preparing for a potential sale.

Buyer interest in quality home care companies remains strong, and strategic buyers, private equity-backed organizations, and other investors continue to look for acquisition opportunities in the home-based care sector. But summer also brings a predictable seasonal slowdown in the pace of mergers and acquisitions.

With children out of school, family vacations underway, and key executives and decision makers frequently out of the office, it can sometimes take longer to get an entire acquisition team focused on evaluating a new opportunity.

For home care owners considering a sale, that doesn’t mean waiting – it means now may be the perfect time to get ready.

Buyer Interest in Home Care Companies Remains Strong

The fundamental reasons buyers are interested in home care have not changed. An aging U.S. population, growing consumer preference for receiving care at home, and the continued expansion of home-based care have made quality home care providers attractive acquisition targets.

Strategic buyers continue to use acquisitions to enter new markets, build density in existing markets, add caregivers and clients, and expand their service offerings. Private equity-backed organizations and other financial buyers also remain active in the sector.

Stoneridge Partners sees this interest firsthand through our ongoing conversations with buyers and sellers across the country.

Recent transactions further demonstrate that acquisitions remain an important component of growth strategies in home care. In May, for example, Stoneridge Partners provided sell-side M&A advisory services to HomeCourt Home Care in its sale to Addus HomeCare Corporation.

For owners asking, “Is now a good time to sell my home care company?”, the level of buyer interest makes the current market worth exploring.

But exploring a sale and launching a sale process are not necessarily the same thing.

The Summer M&A Slowdown Can Actually Work to a Seller’s Advantage

Summer can be a deceptively good time to begin the process of selling a home care agency.

M&A activity doesn’t stop during June, July, and August. Deals already underway continue moving toward closing, and buyers continue evaluating opportunities. However, getting all of the necessary decision makers together to evaluate and approve a new acquisition can be more difficult due to their lighter-than-usual summer schedules.

As a result, there is often a natural slowdown in launching and evaluating new transactions.

Rather than viewing that as a reason to wait, prospective sellers can use it as an opportunity.

August can be the preparation period that positions your home care company to go to market when buyers return after Labor Day, ready to fill their acquisition pipelines.

Selling a Home Care Company Takes Preparation

One of the biggest misconceptions among business owners is that deciding to sell means immediately putting the company on the market.

A well-run healthcare M&A process begins well before buyers are contacted.

At Stoneridge Partners, preparing a home care company for sale typically starts with understanding the owner’s objectives and determining an expected valuation range. From there, the process includes gathering and analyzing financial and operational information, identifying potential issues that may arise during due diligence, preparing marketing materials, and developing a targeted buyer strategy.

That preparation takes time.

Owners should expect to gather and organize items such as historical financial statements, year-to-date results, census and revenue information, payer mix, employee and caregiver information, licensing information, organizational structure, and other operational data buyers will want to evaluate.

Starting this work during the summer can allow an owner and their M&A advisor to address questions and prepare the business without feeling rushed.

Why Start Talking to a Home Care Business Broker Now?

Talking to an experienced home care M&A advisor does not obligate you to sell your company.

It gives you information.

A preliminary conversation can help answer some of the most important questions an owner should understand before making a decision:

• What is my home care company worth?
• What are buyers paying for companies like mine?
• Who are the likely buyers?
• What aspects of my company will buyers find most attractive?
• Are there issues I should address before going to market?
• How long would the sale process likely take?
• What can I do now to maximize the value of my home care business?

Those answers can help you decide whether selling now makes sense—or whether you should spend another six months, a year, or longer preparing your company for an eventual exit.

That is why the best time to contact a home care business broker is often before you’ve made the final decision to sell.

Be Ready When Buyers Return After Labor Day

For many buyers, September marks a return to a more normal business rhythm.

Vacations wind down. Children return to school. Management teams are back in the office. Investment committees resume regular schedules. And organizations begin looking closely at the acquisition opportunities they want to pursue through the remainder of the year and into the next.

Buyers with growth objectives also need transactions in their pipelines.

A seller who begins preparing during the summer can be ready to move as buyers return in full force and deal activity picks up in the fall.

How Long Does It Take to Sell a Home Care Company?

Selling a home care company is a process, not an event.

While every transaction is different, healthcare M&A transactions take months from initial preparation through closing. The process includes preparation, confidential marketing, initial buyer discussions, offers, negotiation of a letter of intent, due diligence, definitive agreements, and closing.

For a more detailed look at the timeline and different stages of a healthcare transaction, read How Long Does It Take to Sell a Home Health Agency or Hospice?

That makes advance planning particularly important.

Even an owner who hopes to sell six to twelve months from now can benefit from beginning the conversation today.

So, Is Now a Good Time to Sell Your Home Care Company?

Yes—but perhaps the better question is whether now is a good time to start preparing to sell your home care company.

For many owners, the answer is an emphatic yes.

Buyer demand for quality home care acquisition opportunities remains strong. At the same time, the traditional summer slowdown creates a valuable period for owners to step back, evaluate their options, understand the value of their business, organize their financial and operational information, and prepare for the next wave of buyer activity.

You don’t have to decide today that you’re selling, but if selling your home care company is something you’ve been considering then there may be no advantage in waiting until buyers are back at full force after Labor Day to begin getting ready.

Use the summer to prepare. Be ready when the buyers are.

Thinking About Selling a Home Care Company?

Stoneridge Partners is a national healthcare mergers and acquisitions advisory firm specializing in the sale of home care, home health, hospice, and behavioral health companies.

For more than two decades, Stoneridge Partners has worked with healthcare business owners across the country, helping them understand the value of their companies, prepare for a potential sale, identify qualified buyers, negotiate transactions, and navigate the M&A process through closing.

If you are considering selling a home care agency—whether this year or sometime in the future—the first step can simply be a confidential conversation about your company, your goals, and the current market.

Contact Stoneridge Partners for a confidential discussion about your home care company, its potential valuation, and whether now may be the right time to begin preparing for a sale.