HOME CARE
Home Care M&A Advisory
Some owners come to us with a clear timeline. Others are still deciding whether, when, or how they want to move forward. We meet owners where they are, providing honest guidance, protecting confidentiality, and helping them make informed decisions without unnecessary pressure.
When the time is right, we run a structured, competitive process designed to bring qualified buyers to the table, create leverage, and pursue the best possible outcome with the terms and protections that matter most.
→ Talk With a Home Care M&A Advisor
→ Request a Confidential Valuation
Home Care Transaction Experience
We have represented home care owners across independent and franchise models, single-market and multi-state operators, and agencies spanning the full range of payer mix. Every engagement is run as a structured competitive process built to surface the right buyers and give the seller real negotiating leverage.
→ Home Care Transaction Case Study
Why Home Care Owners Choose Mertz Taggart
Depth in home-based space
Home-based care has been one of our core practice areas since the firm was founded. We track the buyer landscape actively, publish frequent M&A reports and trends analyses, and maintain relationships with the strategic consolidators and private equity platforms currently driving sector activity.
→ Read the Latest Home-Based Care M&A Report
A competitive, confidential process that creates leverage
Strong outcomes rarely come from a single-buyer conversation. They come from a structured process that puts qualified buyers in competition with each other. Mertz Taggart runs a structured, confidential, competitive process designed to:
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Position the business thoughtfully before it goes to market
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Surface real buyer interest
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Create competitive leverage
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Negotiate from strength
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Reduce the risk of surprises late in the process
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Help owners evaluate price, structure, certainty, and fit
→ Learn about our process here
Education before engagement
Not every owner who reaches out is ready to sell, and that’s fine. We believe owners should understand how the process works, what their business may be worth, and what buyers are likely to focus on before they make any big decisions.
You don’t need pressure. You need clarity.
→ Start with a business valuation
Relentless execution through diligence and close
A strong process does not stop when offers come in. In home care transactions, management meetings, buyer diligence, legal negotiation, working capital, and continuity terms can all affect the final outcome. We remain actively involved through close to help protect value, maintain leverage, and keep the deal on track.
Thinking About a Sale, but Not Ready to Move Yet?
That is often the right time to start the conversation.
Many owners wait until they feel pressure to act. In reality, the best decisions are often made earlier, when there is still time to prepare, address weaknesses, and think clearly about goals.
An early conversation does not commit you to a sale. It gives you context.
It helps answer questions like:
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What is my home care business likely worth today?
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What would buyers focus on in diligence?
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Are there issues I should address before going to market?
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What kind of buyer would be the right fit?
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What does a competitive process actually look like in home care?
→ Learn About the Value Accelerator Program
Home Care Market Insight for Owners
Home care M&A activity has stayed consistent, but who is buying and what they value continues to shift. Private equity firms continue to acquire platforms and build through bolt-on acquisitions. Strategic consolidators look for regional density, geographic expansion and payer diversification. State Medicaid policy moves quarter to quarter. VA community care reimbursement changes reshape cash flow for VA-concentrated agencies. And larger healthcare services operators continue to enter home care as a complementary or adjacent service line.
Explore Mertz Taggart's latest home-based care reports, articles, and market commentary:
→ Latest Home-Based Care M&A Report
→ Behind the Curtain Video Series
→ Subscribe to Home Care Articles and Market Updates
Home Care M&A FAQs
When is the right time to sell a home care agency?
The right time is when the business, the market, and the owner are aligned. Most owners benefit from starting the conversation twelve to twenty-four months before they intend to transact. That window gives you time to strengthen the metrics buyers weigh most heavily and to choose a market window that supports your goals rather than working around it.
What factors drive home care valuation?
Buyers value home care agencies on adjusted EBITDA, but the multiple applied to that EBITDA reflects a wide variety of factors: caregiver retention and recruiting pipeline, payer mix, hours-per-client trends, referral diversity, geographic concentration, quality and compliance. Two agencies with similar revenue and adjusted EBITDA can receive very different offers based on how those factors present.
Can I get guidance before I am ready to sell?
Yes. A significant portion of the owners we work with first contact us a year or more before they intend to transact. Early conversations tend to produce better outcomes because they allow time to strengthen the business, choose a favorable window, and approach the process without urgency driving the timeline.
Why use an advisor instead of going direct to a buyer?
A direct negotiation with a single buyer gives that buyer control of the process, the pace, and the information flow. A structured competitive process reverses that dynamic. Even when a specific buyer ultimately wins the deal, having other qualified bidders at the table meaningfully affects price, terms, and post-close protections.
How is confidentiality maintained during a sale?
Confidentiality is managed through buyer screening, NDAs, blind teasers, staged information release, and careful control of who inside and outside the agency knows about the process. Caregivers, clients, and referral sources should never hear about a potential transaction from anyone but you, and only when you choose to share it.
What are home care buyers focused on right now?
Buyers focus on the durability of the business: caregiver retention and recruitment, payer mix and reimbursement exposure, compliance (including EVV and state licensing), referral source concentration, and whether the operation can sustain performance through and after an ownership transition. They also scrutinize EBITDA quality and normalization adjustments closely.
HOME CARE EXPERTS
Cory Mertz
M&AMI – Managing Partner
Bruce Vanderlaan
JD – Managing Director
Michael Lloyd
M&A Associate