BOSTON, MA -September 23, 2019 -The Stepping Stones Group (Stepping Stones), a leading national provider of therapeutic and behavioral health services to children with special needs and autism, today announced the acquisition of New England ABA, Inc., a Massachusetts based provider of in-home and community-based Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) therapy.
New England ABA, Inc will operate as a subsidiary of The Stepping Stones Group and continue to do business under its current name. Tim Sullivan, New England ABA’s co-founder and Chief Executive Officer/Executive Director will assume the role of Executive Director of the subsidiary and will report to Mike McGreal, Chief Corporate Development Officer of The Stepping Stones Group. In addition to Tim Sullivan, we are pleased to announce Ben Sullivan, New England ABA’s co-founder and Chief Financial Officer/Director of Operations will also join The Stepping Stones Group as the Director of Finance and Operations reporting directly to Tim Sullivan, with a dotted reporting line to Karen Ospalik, Chief Financial Officer of The Stepping Stones Group.
“We are excited to join with New England ABA, which represents our inaugural expansion into home and community-based autism services. This acquisition enhances our ability to positively impact the lives of children beyond our current delivery of care in the K-12 setting. Tim Sullivan and his team have grown a leading Autism Services Provider in Massachusetts over the past 4 years and we are thrilled to have them join our team,” said Tim Murphy, the Chief Executive Officer of The Stepping Stones Group.
“By joining The Stepping Stones Group, New England ABA has found a like-minded partner to live out our mission to change lives, one family at a time with a focus on clinical and operational excellence. I am confident that The Stepping Stones Group’s national footprint and clinical and operational capabilities will propel New England to even higher levels of success,” said Tim Sullivan, CEO of New England ABA.
Stepping Stones is a portfolio company of Five Arrows Capital Partners, the North American corporate private equity business of Rothschild & Co Merchant Banking.
“Five Arrows Capital Partners is pleased to continue to support The Stepping Stones Group’s management team as they expand the company’s service offerings into new settings broadening the national footprint. The acquisition of New England ABA represents the execution of our articulated vision to expand The Stepping Stones service delivery model to the community,” stated Michael Langer, Managing Director of Five Arrows Capital Partners.
Provident Healthcare Partners, LLC acted as investment banking advisor for New England ABA.
About The Stepping Stones Group
The Stepping Stones Group is the leading provider of therapy and behavioral health services to children including those with special needs and autism. With the acquisition of New England ABA, Inc., the company now serves over 450 school districts and 105,000 students annually across over 30 states. With over 30 years of experience, our team consists of over 2,100 licensed clinicians and special educators dedicated to delivering high-quality therapeutic and behavioral health services. The company is privately held by Five Arrows Capital Partners, the North American corporate private equity business of Rothschild & Co Merchant Banking. For more information about the company, please visit https://thesteppingstonesgroup.com/.
About New England ABA, Inc.
Founded in 2015, New England ABA, Inc. has been providing home and community-based Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) therapy services to children and adolescents with Autism. For more information on New England ABA, please visit www.ne-aba.com/
About Five Arrows Capital Partners
Five Arrows Capital Partners (FACP) is the North American corporate private equity business of Rothschild & Co. Merchant Banking (RMB), the investment arm of Rothschild & Co. With offices in London, Paris, Luxembourg, New York, and Los Angeles, RMB has over $12 billion of assets under management. Like RMB’s European corporate private equity business, Five Arrows Capital Partners is focused on investing in middle-market companies with highly defensible market positions, business models with a proven history of generating attractive returns on invested capital across economic cycles, and multiple untapped levers for value creation. The sector focus of FACP is on healthcare; business services; and data, software & technology-enabled services. For more information, please visit https://www.rothschildandco.com/en/merchant-banking/corporate-private-equity/.
CONTACTS
The Stepping Stones Group LLC
Tiffany Baxter
678-264-0533
tiffany@thesteppingstonesgroup.com
Rothschild & Co. Merchant Banking
Brunswick Group
Alex Yankus / Aziz Nayani
212-333-3810
ROTHSCHILD@brunswickgroup.com
