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Acadia (ACHC) Buys CenterPointe Assets, Boosts Missouri Footprint

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Acadia Healthcare Company, Inc. (ACHC - Free Report) recently closed the buyout of the leading Missouri-based behavioral healthcare provider CenterPointe Behavioral Health System. The purchased assets of CenterPointe comprise four inpatient hospitals (equipped with 260 acute care beds and 46 specialty beds for substance use) and 10 outpatient locations.

Anticipated to be immediately accretive to Acadia Healthcare’s financial results, the transaction was financed by utilizing cash on hand and the borrowing capacity of ACHC’s revolving credit facility.

The latest move highlights Acadia Healthcare’s collaborative approach to boost service offerings, provide enhanced patient care and expand its service accessibility to more patients. This, in turn, is anticipated to strengthen Acadia Healthcare’s presence in Missouri, which presents alluring prospects for acquisition deals. The recent development reflects ACHC’s efforts to bolster its foothold in high-growth markets. CenterPointe seems to be an apt choice for complementing Acadia Healthcare’s endeavors as the former operates behavioral health networks and boasts an expansive presence throughout Missouri.

ACHC is committed to a prudent capital allocation framework for pursuing a growth strategy. Acadia Healthcare has been undertaking buyouts in numerous markets, which have added facilities, beds and hospitals to the company’s network. Following the acquisition of facilities and programs, ACHC undertakes further investments in a bid to broaden the facilities and introduce service offerings to address the solid demand for behavioral healthcare services. These buyouts provide added scale and cost savings to ACHC.

In December 2021, Acadia Healthcare purchased the real estate of three non-operational facilities in Illinois to penetrate deeper into the greater Chicago region. In the beginning of 2021, ACHC acquired the 61-bed psychiatric hospital named Adventist Health Vallejo to cater to the behavioral health needs across Solano County.

Apart from the buyouts, ACHC remains keen on entering into joint ventures (JVs) with established healthcare organizations. These efforts have not only bolstered the capabilities and treatment network of Acadia Healthcare but also enabled the healthcare provider to reach out to underserved communities. As of Sep 30, 2021, ACHC’s portfolio comprises 230 behavioral healthcare facilities across 40 states and Puerto Rico.

The tie-up with Minnesota-based Fairview Health Services in December 2021 marked the 16th JV by Acadia Healthcare. In the same month, ACHC formed a JV with SCL Health for building a 144-bed freestanding behavioral health unit in the Denver area.

Pursuing growth-related initiatives in the form of buyouts or JVs are not only beneficial to Acadia Healthcare but also to all of the United States, which has been grappling with the persistent incidence of behavioral health issues for quite some time. The resurgence of coronavirus cases with the advent of each new variant only highlights the dire need for accessible and improved behavioral healthcare services.

Apart from Acadia Healthcare, healthcare providers like HCA Healthcare, Inc. (HCA - Free Report) , Universal Health Services, Inc. (UHS - Free Report) and Humana Inc. (HUM - Free Report) offer high-quality behavioral healthcare services and can capitalize on robust demand for these services.

HCA Healthcare operates as one of the leading U.S. acute care psychiatric providers. Behavioral healthcare services remain one of the fastest-growing business lines within the company. HCA continues to collaborate with hospital affiliates for better management of behavioral healthcare services.

Making use of clinical resources and geographic presence, Universal Health Services enters into mutually beneficial collaborations with other healthcare systems. This has helped UHS to deliver enhanced and affordable behavioral healthcare services, thus resulting in better outcomes for patients.

Humana follows an integrated approach of catering to the behavioral, physical and pharmacy needs of people. HUM follows a holistic approach to behavioral healthcare and provides web-based health coaching thereby resulting in better outcomes and reduced costs for members and employers.

Price Performances

Shares of Acadia Healthcare have gained 20.2% in a year compared with the industry’s rally of 39.9%.

Zacks Investment ResearchImage Source: Zacks Investment Research

ACHC currently has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

While shares of HCA Healthcare and Humana have gained 54% and 12.6%, respectively, in a year, Universal Health Services stock has lost 3% in the same time frame.

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