Livingstone Advises MOTION PT Group on a New Partnership with Confluent Health
Livingstone’s Healthcare team has advised MOTION PT Group (“MOTION” or the “Company”), a portfolio company of Pharos Capital Group (“Pharos”), on its new partnership with Confluent Health (“Confluent”), a portfolio investment of Partners Group, a leading global private markets firm, acting on behalf of its clients. Livingstone acted as exclusive financial advisor to MOTION. Transaction terms were not disclosed.
“In 2015, our management team had a clear vision to create a differentiated physical therapy brand in the uniquely fragmented Northeast region, which Livingstone helped us realize through a successful partnership with Pharos,” commented Ed Miersch, MOTION’s Chief Executive Officer. “We entrusted Livingstone once again to guide MOTION through the next chapter of our evolution. Livingstone was instrumental in our achieving an outstanding outcome, which resulted from their deep knowledge of our business, in depth understanding of the physical therapy landscape, effective communication, and creative dealmaking in a challenging M&A and financing environment.”
MOTION is a leading physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy company with 59 outpatient clinic locations across Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, and New York. During its seven-plus year partnership with Pharos, MOTION completed over 25 acquisitions, propelling the Company into its position as one of the largest physical therapy brands in New York and the broader Northeast region. The MOTION transaction expands Confluent Health’s national footprint to 609 private practice clinics across 35 states.
“The MOTION team should be commended for adeptly executing their vision of expanding high quality care and access to patients across the Northeast and, in doing so, achieving impressive growth and a differentiated market position,” commented Ryan Buckley, Partner at Livingstone. “The combined resources of MOTION and Confluent Health will be transformative for patients within the region and the industry at large.”
The partnership allows MOTION to maintain its existing branding while gaining access to Confluent Health’s established ecosystem of management services and education and musculoskeletal health resources. Support services include efficient community outreach, digital innovations, value-based care pathway models, and marketing and finance tools. Resources include best-in-brand physical therapy partnerships, such as the PTPN network, continuing education programs, and staff development opportunities with Evidence in Motion, a nationally recognized residency, Fellowship, and certification education provider in physical and occupational therapy programs.
“With their highly effective clinicians and scalable operational model, MOTION is well-positioned to serve a rapidly growing population of musculoskeletal and chronic pain patients,” says Confluent Health’s President and CEO Dr. Larry Benz, PT, DPT, FAPTA. “We look forward to this alliance and its assurance of expanding together while treating an increase in patients that need our expertise.”
Livingstone has built one of the most active M&A practices serving the physical therapy industry, advising on over $1.2 billion of value across closed transactions. Over the last year, Livingstone has completed four sell-side physical therapy deals, including the sales of MOTION (to Confluent Health), Therapy Partner Solutions (to Lee Equity), Foothills Therapy Partners (to Confluent Health), and Renewal Rehab (to Enhance Therapies). These deals complement a long list of successful physical therapy transactions involving industry leaders such as Agility Health, Alliance Physical Therapy Partners, ATI Physical Therapy, and PT Solutions.
Mark Carl, Director at Livingstone, noted, “MOTION represents yet another successful transaction in the musculoskeletal specialty. Livingstone has become one of the mid-markets most active advisors in physical therapy, contract rehabilitation, orthopedics, physiatry, and podiatry.”
