Home » BrightSpring and PharMerica merge to form leading provider of health and pharmacy services

BrightSpring and PharMerica merge to form leading provider of health and pharmacy services

Jon Rousseau

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BusinessWire) — Global investment firm KKR and BrightSpring Health Services, one of the largest home and community-based health services providers, announced Wednesday that KKR has closed on its acquisition of BrightSpring. As part of this transaction, BrightSpring has merged with PharMerica Corp. to now become a leading provider of both home and community-based health and pharmacy services for high-need and medically complex populations.

The strategic combination of BrightSpring and PharMerica creates a uniquely positioned, diversified health care platform with comprehensive care capabilities across clinical, pharmacy and non-clinical support services in multiple care settings. Upon close, the combined company will serve over 300,000 clients daily in 47 states, Puerto Rico and Canada with combined revenue of approximately $4.5 billion.

“Today marks the start of a new and exciting chapter for Brightspring and PharMerica. We look forward to working with the team on the combined company’s next phase of growth and development,” said KKR member Max Lin.

“Combining BrightSpring and PharMerica brings together two well-respected, high quality and innovative leaders within their markets. Together, we will have unmatched capabilities to drive improved outcomes and reduced costs through integrated service and care models for all of the people and stakeholders we serve. Through the combination of our community-based health services and pharmacy capabilities, our complementary offerings will have valuable benefits to our clients, patients and customers and provide new opportunities together,” said Jon Rousseau, president and CEO of BrightSpring and CEOr of PharMerica.

With the combined enterprise led by Rousseau as CEO, Bob Dries has been named the president of PharMerica as part of the combination.

“Greater independence, improved health outcomes and reduced hospitalizations all depend on three things to be present – non-clinical support services, daily medication optimization and clinical monitoring and interventions when required, which is what we are focused on providing to deliver value as a combined company,” said Dries.

“With PharMerica, we provide industry leading medication availability, cost containment results, and clinical, regulatory and education support for our customers and their residents and patients – through our proprietary programs and systems,” he added.

BrightSpring and PharMerica will continue to support all operations from Louisville, Ky., where both businesses are headquartered, and anticipate many benefits to its customers and people served from its scale and scope of integrated services. The combined organization will continue to take a local and customized approach when serving its behavioral, senior and specialty populations in the community, as well as offering differentiated capabilities and a unique set of comprehensive offerings to the skilled nursing, senior living, hospital, behavioral provider, and home infusion and specialty clinic customers that it serves. The increased breadth of the company’s services and its proximity in serving complex populations, which are most often significant poly-pharmacy populations, will provide added solutions and opportunities for working with Medicare, states and other payers to improve outcomes and lower costs.

Under the terms of the deal originally announced on Dec. 10, 2018, KKR has purchased BrightSpring for approximately $1.32 billion with an affiliate of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. as a minority investor.