Comvest Hot Out of the Gate After Fund V Close

The firm closed its latest fund in October and is already putting capital to work, says partner Roger Marrero.

Comvest Partners has hit the ground running after closing its latest private equity fund, making its first investment back in June and prepping to announce yet another deal.

In addition to a focus on healthcare services, the West Palm Beach, Florida–based firm also plays in industrials, consumer, retail, transportation and logistics. Within healthcare, Comvest looks to put capital to work in existing delivery models that either improve quality outcomes, lower costs or improve the continuity of care across care settings.

“We are attracted to companies that are able to figure this out, particularly managing risk for providers, improving efficiencies across networks and that generate profits,” says Roger Marrero, a partner with Comvest.

Managers of the firm’s latest fund, Comvest Investment Partners V, completed fundraising efforts in October with $893M in capital commitments—well above the $700M target.

The first investment out of Fund V was the acquisition of AxisPoint Health from McKesson Corp. in June 2015. The new portfolio company—a non-core asset for McKesson—provides chronic–care management such as in-home assessment and treatment plans to payers and other risk-bearing entities, including commercial healthcare companies, through its software-enabled platform.

“Delivery systems are trending toward increasing pressure on providers that are taking on more and more risk,” Marrero explains. “We are also seeing payers and health plans looking to develop solutions to keep people with multiple co-morbidities healthy.”

That includes shifting delivery systems into the home and out of the hospital, he says. Marrero has been focused on healthcare for the last 15 years and is responsible for key aspects of the investment process at Comvest, including sourcing, deal execution, and portfolio company management.

The firm typically looks to deploy between $25M and $100M of equity per investment. In addition to capital infusions, the firm provides strategic and operational support alongside business development for portfolio companies.

Comvest is moving strategically in deploying capital from Fund V and is already preparing to announce the closing of a second deal out of the new vehicle—also a healthcare-services business—in the behavioral healthcare space. Investors in Fund V include pension funds, endowments, insurance companies, fund-of-funds, and family offices, as well as $43M in commitments from the general partner. The new vehicle is a follow-up to Fund IV, which raised $582M in 2010.

Comvest recently opened a new location in Chicago to complement its Florida headquarters. The firm, founded in 2000, currently has $2.3B in assets under management and has invested in more than 135 portfolio companies.