Spanos, Barber, Jesse & Co. (“SBJ”) is a leading lower middle-market private equity firm that focuses on consumer, business services and healthcare services investments. SBJ had identified a compelling eye care practice in the Southeast but the business was too small to serve as a platform investment on its own.
The success of the opportunity centered around the company’s ability to successfully acquire and integrate other eye care practices with a complete spectrum of services.
Kingfish relationships catalyzed the formation of the opportunity:
Aligning a Backable Executive
Kingfish aligned Richard Sanchez, the former President and CEO of Advantica, a provider of comprehensive eyecare and dental services to nearly 2.5M members, as an Operating Advisor.
Developing Actionability
Richard leveraged his relationships with complementary local practices to develop a robust acquisition pipeline, providing SBJ with conviction around the actionability of the M&A opportunity.
In addition, Richard’s ability to serve as interim CEO provided SBJ with the comfort to confidently pursue an investment with complex integration requirements.
Transaction Diligence
During diligence, Kingfish executive relationships from larger regional players helped identify the keys to scaling and the opportunities / risks with payors in the Florida market.
Post-Close Strategic Priorities
After the transaction’s closing, the Kingfish team was able to identify 160+ additional potential acquisition targets in the Florida market through its network and analysis.
“The Kingfish relationships were the catalyst that enabled the closing of Sight360.”