Houston-based Service Corporation International (NYSE: SCI), the nation’s largest death care provider, closed a $1.4 billion acquisition a little more than a year ago, but that doesn’t mean it’s off the acquisition trail.
I got a chance to sit down with CEO Tom Ryan to talk about the company’s strategy for 2015 and beyond, as well as how it plans to leverage cash to continue to grow its network.
Rather than a major acquisition, opportunity lies in smaller, mom-and-pop funeral homes, cemeteries and other services that fit SCI’s offerings, Ryan said. The company already acquired several funeral homes and a cemetery on the West Coast, Ryan announced last week during a quarterly earnings call, and he expects more of the same going forward.
SCI currently has a 16 percent share of the death care industry, however there’s still significant room for growth in several pockets of the country, Ryan said.
“As we view the near term, it’s most likely we’re going to focus on expanding the network through smaller, tuck-in acquisitions that fit our strategy,” Ryan told the HBJ.
A farther-looking acquisition strategy down the road includes a potential move overseas, Ryan said.
“As I look over the next three to five years, the biggest opportunity is to grow our network both through acquisitions and through new-build opportunities,” Ryan said. “You’ll see us deploy capital pretty aggressively as it relates to those two things.”
[H/T: Biz Journals]
