Hauser provides valuable tools for businesses in the field of sight
As new technologies and medical advancements have allowed people to live longer, older people are increasingly making up a greater proportion of the population. Worldwide, there will be twice as many older people in 2025 as there were in 2000, and by 2050 the population of older people is expected to grow to three times greater. As age increases, so too does the prevalence of visual impairment, meaning that as the number of older people rises it will be accompanied by an increase in the number of people with age-related eye diseases. While older people with good vision can, and do, remain economically and socially active as they age, visual impairment can dramatically reduce their ability to contribute to their full capacity, having a negative impact on society as a whole.
This is why it is important for those within the optometry and ophthalmology sector to have the capital and resources to grow and expand. Through co-investments with other equity firms, Hauser Private Equity has given providers, physicians and institutes the tools for success and sustainable growth, leveraging the combined expertise across multiple industries of their directors and limited partners to help grow companies and enhance returns. In addition to consumer goods, industrials and financials business services, Hauser Private Equity has focused on targeting innovative companies within the healthcare sector, and two co-investments within vision care have seen significant growth since their partnership.
Revelstoke Capital Partners & CEI Vision Partners
In 2018, Hauser Private Equity joined with the Denver-based private equity firm Revelstoke Capital Partners as a co-investor and strategic partner with Cincinnati Eye Institute. Together, Revelstoke and Cincinnati Eye Institute formed CEI Vision Partners, a management services organization designed to support Cincinnati Eye Institute’s growth, allowing them to pursue additional partnerships with other leading ophthalmology providers. In addition to being one of the largest and most highly-regarded ophthalmology practices in the country with leading physicians across all major sub-specialties, Cincinnati Eye Institute was the only practice in the region to offer “front-to-back” comprehensive eye care. At the time, they were completing over 200,000 annual patient encounters in addition to over 25,000 annual surgical procedures within their 14 clinics and three ambulatory surgical centers.
In Revelstoke and Hauser Private Equity, Cincinnati Eye Institute received strategic and healthcare expertise that enabled them to accelerate their growth while still maintaining their compassionate and patient-first approach. Revelstoke had spent many years searching for an ideal partner within the vision care sector, and by co-investing with HPE was able to find such a partner in Cincinnati Eye Institute’s impressive group of physicians and management, allowing them to launch CEI Vision Partners. Within the partnership, Cincinnati Eye Institute’s physician shareholders retained ownership and retained their roles within the company, along with the over 650 existing employees.
Revelstoke and Hauser Private Equity’s investment brought CEI Vision Partners an experienced team of investors who were committed to building industry-leading companies while enhancing the patient experience and ensuring they are providing the highest quality of patient care. Together, Revelstoke and CEI Vision Partners worked to develop infrastructure and capabilities that would allow them to sustainably and effectively grow their operations. Revelstoke had a history of managing investments across a wide variety of industries and throughout multiple economic cycles targeting healthcare and related business services specifically. At the time of forming CEI Vision partners, it had completed 42 acquisitions including 11 platform companies and 31 add-on acquisitions since its inception in mid-2013.
In the three short years since the co-investment, CEI Vision Partners has grown substantially thanks in part to the expertise of Revelstoke and Hauser Private Equity. With a goal of being the premier ophthalmology management services organization in the country, it has added eight partner practices in regions across the United States. Dayton Eye Associates and Retina Physicians and Surgeons joined the platform in October of 2018, and Retina Vitreous Associates was added in December of that year. 2019 saw them add Virginia Eye Consultants and Virginia Beach Eye Center to their portfolio, expanding CEI Vision Partners into the Mid-Atlantic Region. In 2020, their reach grew further as they moved into the Midwest, partnering with Columbus Ophthalmology Associates (COA) and Valley Eye Institute near Dayton, Ohio. Rounding out their focus on the Mid-Atlantic region, in early 2021 they added Tidewater Eye Centers to their group, which provides care in the specialties of cornea, glaucoma, retina as well as offering cataract and refractive surgeries. Additionally, in late 2020 CEI Vision Partners announced its acquisition of Dayton Eye Associates, the first acquisition since it was formed.
New MainStream Capital & Omni Ophthalmic Management Consultants
Among Hauser Private Equity’s many fund investments is also New MainStream Capital, a private investment firm headquartered in New York that specializes in strategic equity investments, as well as leveraged buyouts of lower middle market companies. The private equity group focuses on companies headquartered in the United States who are poised to benefit from sustainable growth trends, and like Revelstoke Capital Partners concentrates on companies in healthcare services and specialized business services. In mid-2017, the firm announced its strategic investment in Omni Ophthalmic Management Consultants, LLC and its affiliates, investing in Omni alongside management, and providing additional capital to further support Omni’s future growth through acquisitions, de novo office openings, provider recruitment and investment in infrastructure.
Founded in 1998, Omni is an optometric referral practice that provides a full range of specialty services for the advanced treatment of eye diseases through a network of six offices in the New Jersey and New York area. At the time of New MainStream Capital’s initial investment, the practice had over 26 opthamologists certified with the American Board of Ophthalmology and provided over 75,000 patient encounters annually. The investment made for a strong capital and strategic partnership, combining the knowledge of the ophthalmology industry and approach provided by New MainStream Capital with Omni’s superior patient care that was established through a co-management model.
Omni now provides nearly 350,000 patient encounters annually, and boasts over 70 board-certified ophthalmologists, expanding within the New York metropolitan area to Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland. The company recently announced its strategic partnership with Erie Retinal Surgery, a market-leading provider of medical-surgical retinal services in Western Pennsylvania, allowing them to both add density to their Pennsylvania market while also diversifying their mix of services.
As an aging population in the United States has created a large, addressable market with growing demand, Hauser Private Equity’s investments have shown their dedication to supporting entrepreneurial physicians through capital and resources, allowing them to accelerate growth while still providing high-quality care to patients.
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