CHICAGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Shore Capital Partners, a Chicago-based private equity firm focused on microcap investing, is pleased to announce the sale of Behavioral Innovations (“BI”), a leading provider of center-based applied behavior analysis therapy (“ABA”) to early intervention children with autism spectrum disorder and other related developmental disabilities, to Tenex Capital Management. Behavioral Innovations has 77 centers across Texas, Oklahoma, and Colorado.
Shore partnered with BI in 2017 with the goal of providing best-in-class clinical care to children on the autism spectrum by rapidly opening new centers and training the high caliber clinicians necessary to deliver industry-leading care. In 2017, Shore completed a strategic partnership with Dan Nicholson and co-founders Carla Edwards and Lori Russo, Board Certified Behavior Analysts (“BCBAs”). Led by Chief Executive Officer Dino Eliopoulos, BI has grown its center network from 13 centers in Texas and Oklahoma to 77 locations throughout Texas, Oklahoma, and Colorado. Under Dino’s leadership, BI opened 64 new clinics, dramatically improving access to quality care across its markets and creating 2,300+ new jobs across its center footprint. BI plans to continue to rapidly expand into new geographies to offer autism therapy services to additional children.
“We are extremely proud of what the Behavioral Innovations team has built,” said John Hennegan, Chairman of the Behavioral Innovations Board and Founding Partner at Shore. “Through the company’s significant growth, the BI team remained committed to client-centered services and a patient-first culture above all else. With a strong executive management team in place and a market with significant unmet demand, we look forward to following BI’s continued growth as a leading center-based ABA therapy provider.”
“Shore’s partnership was invaluable and enabled us to expand rapidly,” said Eliopoulos. “We were able to move faster with less risk, given Shore’s years of experience investing in healthcare businesses and its deep bench of hands-on operational support typically only accessible to large-cap companies.”
“Since starting Behavioral Innovations in 2000, our primary focus has been providing best-in-class clinical care and autism therapy services. I am delighted that we have maintained this since expanding and adding new centers,” said Carla Edwards, Chief Clinical Officer and Co-Founder of Behavioral Innovations. “We look forward to continuing to support children with autism and their families with clinical resources and support.”
Jon Krieger of Calex Partners LLC is serving as exclusive financial advisor and Winston & Strawn LLP is serving as legal advisor to Shore and BI.
About Shore Capital Partners
Shore Capital, a Chicago based private equity firm with offices in Nashville, is an investor in microcap companies in the Healthcare, Food and Beverage, Business Services, Industrial, and Real Estate industries. Shore’s strategy is to support management partners to grow faster with less risk, through access to capital, world class board and operational resources, and unmatched networking, development, and shared learnings across the portfolio. From 2020-2023 Shore received recognition from Inc Magazine as a 4x Top Founder Friendly Investor and by Pitchbook research for being the global leader in Private Equity total deal volume. Shore targets investments in proven, successful private companies with superior management teams, stable cash flow, and significant potential to grow through industry consolidation and organic growth to generate value for shareholders. Shore has over $7 billion of assets under management and in additional investment platforms to which it provides business and operational consulting services. For more information, including with respect to these awards and investment platforms, please visit: www.shorecp.com.
About Behavioral Innovations
Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Behavioral Innovations provides center-based applied behavior analysis therapy (“ABA”) to children with autism spectrum disorder and other related developmental disabilities. Behavioral Innovations has 77 centers across Texas, Oklahoma, and Colorado. BI’s mission is to offer client-centered, evidence-based behavioral therapy for patients with autism in a nurturing learning environment, which has resulted in exceptional clinical outcomes. For more information about Behavioral Innovations, please visit: www.behavioral-innovations.com.