Excellere Mines Connections for Healthcare Hire

The Denver-based PE firm brought Michael Geldart on board to join one of its companies as general counsel, and he transitioned into a chief operating officer.

Michael Geldart is no stranger to Excellere Partners—he’s known the founders for 13 years. And the Denver-based private equity firm has hired Geldart as a partner.

“They were the ones that convinced me to leave as a partner at a law firm and join one of their portfolio companies,” says Geldart. “We got to know each other, and our relationship grew from there.”

In 2002, Geldart was co-chair of the national healthcare practice group at global law firm Holland & Knight LLP when Excellere Partners tapped him to join CCS Medical, a national provider of medical and pharmacy supplies for patients suffering from diabetes, respiratory ailments, and other chronic conditions. Geldart started at CCS Medical as general counsel, overseeing all compliance. He quickly transitioned into chief operating officer to oversee all acquisitions and operations. In 2005, Excellere sold CCS Medical to Warburg Pincus for $360M.

Geldart has remained with the company, but once again the founders of Excellere came knocking. This time they were looking for a chief operating officer. Excellere’s portfolio company Med Express, a multi-state urgent–care provider, had completed several acquisitions, and they needed Geldart’s expertise.

“They wanted me to position the company for growth and integrate the acquisitions,” says Geldart. “I took the position, and we had a great exit to Sequoia and General Atlantic.” He left the company when the exit was completed.

Med Express had about $47M in revenue when Excellere bought the company. By 2009, the company had roughly $500M in revenue.

Last summer, as Excellere closed its third fund, the firm thought it made sense for Geldart to come on full-time and help with all of its healthcare portfolio companies.

“With his vast healthcare experience in legal, regulatory compliance, and operations, Michael will be an extremely value-added team member to our current and future healthcare investments,” says David Kessenich, managing partner and co-founder of Excellere Partners.

Geldart joined from his post as chief operating officer of BioTelemetry, a provider of cardiac monitoring, cardiac monitoring device manufacturing, and centralized cardiac core laboratory services.

“My background was in legal and compliance, but it grew into operational infrastructure and regulatory requirements in healthcare,” says Geldart. “When you have significant regulatory obligations, it’s important to develop operations that support the regulatory requirements.”

Geldart started at Excellere at the beginning of November and is excited about his new post. “I enjoy working with the entrepreneurs. I like learning about their companies and helping them scale their business. I am lucky to have the opportunity to come in and use my experience to help create success and maximize value.”