M&A daily wrap: Humana, TPG, WCAS, Curo Health Services, KKR, LLR, Riverside

Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM), in partnership with private equity firms TPG Capital and Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, has announced a second deal aimed at forming
the largest hospice operator in the U.S. In December, the consortium agreed to buy
the Kindred at Home division of Kindred Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:KND), the nation’s largest home health provider and second largest hospice operator, for $810 million. Now the team is acquiring privately held Curo Health Services, a hospice operator that proves care to patients at 245 locations in 22 states, for approximately $1.4 billion. Humana will have a 40 percent minority interest in Curo. "The consortium members partnered with the objective of investing in and building businesses that can help modernize, enhance and transform home healthcare in America," said a statement from Humana. "Curo brings a highly capable management team and a tech-enabled, centralized model for hospice care that presents the opportunity for Humana and its partners to be a leader in managing the continuum of home health, palliative care and hospice in an integrated fashion, creating a positive and differentiated experience for patients and their families – as well as their care providers. The integrated model aims to leverage data and analytics to measure and advance evidence-based clinical outcomes for patients and seamlessly coordinate the transition from home care, to in-home palliative care, and thoughtfully into hospice, as chronically ill patients’ disease burdens progress." Upon the closing of both transactions, the consortium intends to merge Curo with the hospice business of Kindred at Home to create the country’s largest hospice operator. Evercore (NYSE: EVR) is acting as the exclusive financial advisor to Humana. Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP and Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP are acting as legal advisors to Humana. Debevoise & Plimpton LLP and Mintz Levin are acting as legal advisors to TPG and WCAS. Ropes & Gray LLP is also acting as legal advisor to WCAS. Jefferies LLC is acting as the exclusive financial advisor and Kirkland & Ellis LLP is acting as legal advisor to Curo.

KKR, LLR Partners, the Riverside Co., Shore Capital Partners, TA Associates and other private equity firms and strategic buyers, including Cognizant (Nasdaq: CTSH), are investing in eye doctors, dentists and veterinarians, plus revenue cycle management providers and other areas of healthcare that are ripe for consolidation, as Mergers & Acquisitions explores in our in-depth feature, Why private equity firms like veterinarians, opthamologists and dentists, and slideshow, 6 healthcare specialties driving M&A deals.

GFL Environmental Inc. has announced a $5.125 billion recapitalization with new investors led by BC Partners and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan. GFL provides services in the management of solid waste, liquid waste and infrastructure. The transaction makes GFL one of the largest environmental services companies in North America. Scotiabank acted as financial advisor to BC Partners in Canada with Citi in the U.S.. Citigroup Global Markets Inc. also provided committed financing for the transaction. RBC Capital Markets, CIBC World Markets Inc., Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, BMO Capital Markets and Barclays Capital Canada acted as financial advisor to GFL. Stikeman Elliott LLP and Cleary Gottleib Steen &Hamilton LLP are legal advisors to GFL, while Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP provided legal advice to the investors.

Los Angeles-based lower middle-market private equity firm Monogram Capital Partners has raised its debut fund at $152 million. The consumer and retail focused firm, founded in 2014, usually invests up to $30 million per deal. Acalyx Advisors Inc. served as Monogram's placement agent and was represented by Latham & Watkins.

American Plastics LLC , a manufacturer, importer and distributor of consumer storage and commercial cleaning products, has acquired Centrex Plastics LLC and Creative Plastic Concepts. American Plastics is backed by Highview Capital LLC and Victory Park Capital Advisors LLC.

Mitratech, an Austin, Texas-based provider of legal and compliance software programs, is buying San Francisco-based ThinkSmart, which makes workflow sofware. This is the company's eighth acquisition.

Brundage-Bone Concrete Pumping Inc., a provider of concrete pumping services in the U.S. and U.K., has acquired O’Brien Concrete Pumping Inc. Headquartered near Denver, O'Brien operates approximately 70 concrete pumps across Colorado and Arizona.

For more recent deal announcements, including Charlesbank's backing of Hearthside; Century Golf's picking up Tour GCX and BlackRock's acquisition of Tennenbaum Capital, see The weekly wrap.

Find out which private equity firms are raising funds, such as CVC Capital and Bow River, read this week's PE fundraising scorecard.

Read full coverage of Mergers & Acquisitions' 11th annual M&A Mid-Market Award winners: Campbell Soup, Huron Capital, Idera CEO Randy Jacops, LLR Partners, McGuireWoods, Stryker, Twin Brook and William Blair.