August 14, 2024 (Chicago and New York) — Chartis, a leading healthcare advisory firm, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to receive a majority investment from funds managed by Blackstone (”Blackstone”). This strategic investment will support the firm’s continued growth as a leading advisor to providers, payers, technology innovators, retail companies, and investors who are making positive and transformative change within US healthcare. The investment includes continued equity participation from Audax Private Equity (“Audax”).
Blackstone is investing in Chartis through its core private equity strategy, which partners with high-quality, market-leading businesses for longer periods than traditional private equity. The investment will enable Chartis to further extend its capabilities across its strategic, digital and technology, clinical, and financial transformation offerings for healthcare clients. This funding is also anticipated to help further expand the full Chartis family of companies, currently including HealthScape Advisors, Jarrard, and Greeley.
“Chartis was founded with the mission to help clients fundamentally improve healthcare delivery across the United States. Over the past 23 years, since our inception, great strides have been made. Looking to the future, we are excited to do even more. Blackstone shares our commitment to supporting industry leaders across the healthcare landscape as they strive to make care in the US more accessible, more affordable, more reliable, more equitable, and more human for patients and caregivers,” say co-founders Ken Graboys, CEO of Chartis, and Ethan Arnold, Managing Partner.
“Blackstone’s expertise, scale, and resources align well with Chartis’ transformative vision for the future of the industry,” said Greg Maddrey, President of Chartis. “This investment will provide us with the resources to grow our organic offerings, expand our capabilities, and further enhance our infrastructure. We are excited about the future and confident that this partnership will help us enable our clients to reshape healthcare for the better.”
“The increasing complexity of the healthcare landscape has only amplified the need for trusted partners like Chartis,” said Ram Jagannath, a Senior Managing Director at Blackstone. “Ken, Ethan, Greg, and their team have done a tremendous job building a leading advisory business for their clients by serving as a strategic thought partner that leverages next-generation technology and care models. The company’s powerful mission-driven culture is a testament to its impressive leadership and people. We look forward to bringing the resources of Blackstone’s global platform to bear to support Chartis’ continued growth.”
Since Audax’ 2019 investment, Chartis has acquired and integrated seven add-on acquisitions, expanding the firm into complementary capabilities and new end markets. During this period, Chartis has also established several new centers for research and advancement, which contribute to better understanding and addressing healthcare where it is most vulnerable.
“Our investment in Chartis is emblematic of our Buy & Build strategy, backing a first-class management team, understanding and collaborating around their vision for growth, and bringing capital and resources to bear to help the company execute on its purpose-driven strategy,” said Audax Private Equity Partner and Co-President Young Lee. “We sincerely thank Ken, Ethan, Greg, and the rest of the Chartis team for their continued partnership.”
The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2024, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Lincoln International and BofA Securities served as financial advisors, and Ropes and Gray and Winston & Strawn LLP served as legal counsel to Chartis and Audax Private Equity. Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC served as financial advisor and Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal counsel to Blackstone.
About Chartis
The challenges facing US healthcare are longstanding and all too familiar. We are Chartis, and we believe in better. We work with more than 900 clients annually to develop and activate transformative strategies, operating models, and organizational enterprises that make US healthcare more affordable, accessible, safe, and human. With more than 1,000 professionals, we help providers, payers, technology innovators, retail companies, and investors create and embrace solutions that tangibly and materially reshape healthcare for the better. Our family of brands—Chartis, Jarrard, Greeley, and HealthScape Advisors—is 100% focused on healthcare and each has a longstanding commitment to helping transform healthcare in big and small ways. Learn more at www.chartis.com.
About Blackstone
Blackstone is the world’s largest alternative asset manager. We seek to deliver compelling returns for institutional and individual investors by strengthening the companies in which we invest. Our more than $1 trillion in assets under management include global investment strategies focused on real estate, private equity, infrastructure, life sciences, growth equity, credit, real assets, secondaries and hedge funds. Further information is available at www.blackstone.com. Follow @blackstone on LinkedIn, X (Twitter), and Instagram.
About Audax Private Equity
Headquartered in Boston, with offices in San Francisco, New York, and London, Audax Private Equity is a capital partner for middle and lower middle market companies that seeks to facilitate transformational growth through its private equity and strategic capital strategies. With approximately $19 billion of assets under management, over 270 employees, and 100-plus investment professionals, the firm has invested in more than 170 platforms and 1,300 add-on acquisitions since its founding in 1999. Through our disciplined Buy & Build approach, across six core industry verticals, Audax helps portfolio companies execute organic and inorganic growth initiatives that fuel revenue expansion, optimize operations, and significantly increase equity value. For more information, visit www.audaxprivateequity.com or follow us on LinkedIn.
Media Contacts
Chartis
Amy Norwalk, Brand Manager
anorwalk@chartis.com
Thomas J. Rozycki, Jr. / John Perilli / Jack McCarthy
Prosek Partners for Chartis
Pro-Chartis@prosek.com
Blackstone
Matt Anderson
matthew.anderson@blackstone.com
(518) 248-7310
Mariel Seidman-Gati
mariel.seidmangati@blackstone.com
(917) 698-1674
