Announced here first, in October, whispers at NFDA 2018 were centered around rumors about the mystery investment firm sending inquiries to what seems like every company functioning in death-tech. People were asking, “Who was offered? Who was acquired? Who declined? What is each company worth? Why is a major investment firm even interested in death-tech?” No one had solid answers.
So far, the private equity firm has been silent and has made no public announcement about their dabbling in the death care space. We spoke with a representative from the mystery investment company, Providence Equity, who gave us a firm but polite “no comment” on all of our inquiries.
What Do We Know?
For about the past 8 months, Providence Equity Partners, a major player in the global private equity industry, has been making aggressive moves in the death care space. According to emails and anonymous sources, the firm is interested in investing in and acquiring companies for between $10 million and $300 million with 2 funds – one for investments under $100M and one for over $100M. In the case of an investment, they prefer to own at least 51% of the company – controlling ownership. In the past, Providence Equity has invested over $1 billion in individual companies.
So far, we have confirmed that Providence Equity has taken a controlling stake in 3 death-tech companies. They now control SRS Computing, Frazer Consulting, and FrontRunner Professional. Additionally, we have confirmed through anonymous sources that Providence Equity has made inquiries into DISRUPT Media, Aftercare.com, Johnson Consulting, PartingPro, and it’s rumored that they have contacted pretty much every death technology company you can think of.
