Angelo Gordon’s private equity group has partnered with management to purchase ClearBalance Holdings.
The investment will help expand the company’s ClearBalance patient-friendly loan programme, which provides healthcare patients with interest-free loans to pay their healthcare bills in manageable monthly instalments.
ClearBalance was founded in 1992 and held by its current ownership group since 2003. The San Diego-based company has funded more than USD500m in patient loans, and services more than 250 healthcare providers nationwide with more than 1.8 million patient accounts. Hospitals and other healthcare providers partner with ClearBalance to offer an interest-free revolving line to all patients regardless of credit score to help them cover out-of-pocket medical costs. The funding from Angelo Gordon will be used to help continue the company’s growth by expanding its current relationships and introducing its services to more healthcare organisations.
Art Peponis, co-head of private equity at Angelo Gordon, says: “We’re pleased to partner with the management of ClearBalance on this deal. ClearBalance is the leader in its field and receives high praise from both healthcare organisations and patients for its strong level of customer service, the quality of its products and overall patient satisfaction. We’re excited to help the company continue to grow in the healthcare space by leveraging our financial services expertise.”
“This investment from Angelo Gordon is a strong affirmation of the growing importance that ClearBalance’s patient-friendly loan program has within the healthcare industry,” says Mitch Patridge, chief executive officer of ClearBalance. “There is a growing need for loan programs that are easy-to-manage, both from a consumer and healthcare organisation perspective. For hospitals and other healthcare providers, our services are seen as a way for them to increase net recovery rates and reduce their cost of collections while, most importantly, improving patient satisfaction.”
Angelo Gordon’s private equity group makes equity investments ranging from USD25m to USD125m. Sector focus includes financial services, consumer/retail, healthcare, and business services.
Madison Capital Funding provided financing for the transaction and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld acted as legal advisor to Angelo Gordon. Raymond James acted as the financial adviser and Jones Day acted as legal adviser to ClearBalance.
