Gemino Healthcare Finance provides growth financing to southeast based home health provider SunCrest Healthcare Inc.
Gemino Healthcare Finance recently provided credit facilities totaling $7 million to SunCrest Healthcare Inc., for recapitalization of the company and to help fund the acquisition of HomeChoice Health Services, Inc. a Medicare-certified home health agency with 5 locations in Tennessee and Mississippi.
Other partners included existing investor Prudent Capital (www.prudentcapital.com), which provided $2 million in preferred equity and $5 million in subordinated debt, and Fulcrum Ventures (www.fulcrumvp.com) which provided $2.35 million in preferred equity.
SunCrest, one of the leading home health platforms in the Southeast, is led by an impressive management team with more than 80 years of combined experience in both large and small health care corporations.
“The management team at SunCrest has an excellent reputation in the industry, and we are excited about the opportunity to partner with them,” said Mike Gervais, CEO of Gemino. “They have already accomplished great things, and with our knowledge of the home health market, we hope to help them continue to grow and expand.”
Founded in 2005, SunCrest presently has operations in Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas. “Being primarily Medicare-based, our industry is complex, and our needs are different from that of a traditional commercial account” said Wally Dant, president and CEO of SunCrest. “The Gemino team understands the home health market and already has processes in place to support the way we operate.”
SunCrest was represented in the deal by Harpeth Capital, LLC, a middle market investment banking firm headquartered in Nashville, Tenn., serving clients throughout the U.S.
Chuck Byrge, head of investment banking at Harpeth Capital agrees, “It was a very easy decision to go with Gemino. There was no learning curve, and once they developed a comfort level with SunCrest, it was a quick turnaround from start to finish.”
Gemino worked with additional capital providers Fulcrum Ventures and Prudent Capital to provide a complete solution for SunCrest’s needs.
“We know Gemino well, and when they are comfortable, we are comfortable,” said Tom Greer, a partner with Fulcrum Ventures. “Once we met the management team at SunCrest, we got really excited about the opportunity to work together. We see it as a good move from an investment and a partnership standpoint.”
“Gemino was a crucial component in the deal with SunCrest and a welcome addition to the mix,” said Steve Schwartz of Prudent Capital. “As I continue to work on additional deals, the Gemino name keeps popping up. Given the market situation and their experience in the industry, I would say they are currently the senior health care lender of choice.”
SunCrest Healthcare Inc.
SunCrest Healthcare, Inc. was formed in November 2005 for the purpose of developing Medicare/Medicaid-certified home health agencies in the Southeast. SunCrest’s operating philosophy focuses on developing effective partnerships with the local healthcare communities, especially the local hospital systems, in order to ensure that the communities’ home health care needs are met in a caring, high quality, safe, efficient and cost effective manner.
About Gemino Healthcare Finance
Gemino provides senior loans to healthcare service providers throughout the U.S., with typical financing needs ranging from $500,000 to more than $10 million in the form of revolving lines of credit, secured-term loans, unsecured-term loans and real-estate financing.
The firm provides financing to hospitals, surgery/outpatient centers, home care and hospice agencies, imaging centers, skilled nursing homes, distributors, transportation companies and others involved in the delivery or support of healthcare services.