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Valley Vital Care: A Confidential Sale to a Healthcare-FocusedPrivate Equity Partner

Written by October 12, 2026

The Sunbelt Atlanta Public Relations Team shares company news, transaction announcements, market insights, and updates from our business brokerage professionals. Our team keeps clients, partners, and the business community informed about the latest developments at Sunbelt Atlanta.

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Transaction Insight

Valley Vital Care

Home & Alternate-Site Infusion Therapy Services | Waynesboro & Richmond, Virginia

Dealmaker

Doreen Morgan

Deal Structure

Private Equity Partnership

Announced

December 2024

128

Qualified Buyers

Multiple

Letters of Intent

900+

Active Patients

Partnered With

RF Investment Partners

A lower-middle-market private capital firm selected to support Valley Vital's continued growth while aligning with the owners' succession and involvement goals.

The Company

A Fast-Growing Infusion Provider Built Around Patient Access and Clinical Outcomes

Valley Vital Care is a home and alternate-site infusion therapy provider based in Waynesboro, Virginia, operating alongside sister company Vital Care of Richmond under the Vital Care Infusion Services franchise model.

Founded in 2014 by Preston Estep, a Marine Corps veteran and clinical pharmacist, together with colleagues from the University of Virginia's home infusion program, Valley Vital became one of the earlier franchisees in the Vital Care system. The Richmond location followed in 2020, with an additional site in Winchester expanding the company's reach across North Central Virginia.

The companies provide acute, chronic, and specialty infusion therapies in patients' homes and dedicated infusion suites, supported by pharmacists, nurses, intake teams, and billing professionals. By the time of the transaction, Valley Vital served more than 900 active patients and was contracted with roughly 50 payor groups.

Business Highlights

900+ Active Patients A sizable patient population across home and alternate-site infusion settings.

~50 Payor Groups A broad payor network supporting access across complex and specialty therapies.

Multi-Location Platform Operations extended across Waynesboro, Richmond, and Winchester.

Consistent Growth The company had grown every year since inception, with growth accelerating after 2020.

Seller's Objective

Partnering for the Next Stage of Growth

Valley Vital's founder was not looking to walk away from the business. He remained committed to the work, the company's patients, and the clinical team.

The challenge was scale. Expanding into new markets and franchise territories, broadening specialty therapies, and building the infrastructure needed to support continued growth required a partner with real healthcare-services experience.

With several partners holding stakes across two operating entities, the transaction also needed to address different priorities around liquidity, continued involvement, and long-term direction while protecting the company's clinical culture and referral relationships.

The Process

Bringing Multiple Buyer Types to the Table

Sunbelt Atlanta served as exclusive sell-side advisor, with the transaction led by Dealmaker Doreen Morgan. The engagement covered the full process, including opinion of value, preparation of the Confidential Information Memorandum, buyer qualification, due diligence, and closing.

The buyer universe included healthcare-focused private equity firms, strategic operators in home infusion and post-acute care, and other financial sponsors. In total, 128 qualified buyers engaged in the process, each completing confidentiality and qualification requirements before receiving detailed information.

The process generated multiple letters of intent from different types of buyers, allowing the owners to compare distinct partnership models rather than simply choose between similar offers.

“The value of the process was not simply producing multiple offers. It gave ownership the ability to compare very different models of partnership against each owner's individual goals.”

Selecting the Right Partner

Institutional Resources Without Losing the Founder-Led Mindset

Ownership selected RF Investment Partners, a lower-middle-market private capital firm with healthcare services as a core focus. RF brought the resources to complete the transaction and fund an ambitious growth plan while remaining small and hands-on enough to operate as an active partner rather than a distant institutional owner.

The Buyer's Perspective

A Founder-Led Healthcare Platform Ready for More Scale

RF saw a founder-led healthcare services business with strong clinical operations, deep referral relationships, and a market position that had outgrown its existing infrastructure. The buyer believed it could add systems, management depth, and capital to support geographic expansion and service-line development as infusion care continues moving out of hospitals and into homes and community settings.

What Made This Transaction Different

A Sale That Was Really a Growth Partnership

Valley Vital's founder still wanted to build the business. The transaction therefore had to create liquidity and institutional support without treating closing as the end of the founder's involvement.

Continued Founder Involvement

The founder remained committed to helping lead the business through its next stage.

Growth Capital

Institutional capital could support new markets, franchise territories, infrastructure, and specialty therapies.

Healthcare Operating Experience

The selected partner brought experience helping founder-led healthcare businesses scale.

Clinical Culture Preserved

Growth objectives were balanced against the need to protect patient care and referral relationships.

Market Context

Care Is Moving Beyond the Hospital

Home infusion is one of the fastest-growing areas of home healthcare, supported by greater acceptance of in-home treatment, payor preference for lower-cost sites of care, a growing specialty-drug pipeline, and continued consolidation among regional infusion providers.

$17.3B

U.S. home infusion therapy market value in 2022

$33.2B

Projected U.S. market value by 2030

8.4%

Approximate compound annual growth rate

3.2M

U.S. patients estimated to be eligible for home infusion annually

Industry data cited in the case study also indicated fewer than 1,000 infusion providers nationally, while roughly 40% of infusion services historically performed in hospitals may be suitable for delivery at home. A growing drug pipeline creates additional demand for infusion-based therapies, while the fragmented provider landscape continues to attract strategic and private-equity investment.

Lessons for Sellers

Five Takeaways for Healthcare Services Owners

Sell from a position of strength. Valley Vital pursued a partner while growth was accelerating, giving buyers confidence and ownership leverage.

A sale doesn't have to mean an exit. Private equity can provide capital, systems, and management depth while allowing a founder to remain involved.

Bring a range of buyer types to the table. Private equity firms, strategic buyers, and other financial sponsors can offer very different paths forward.

Weigh partnership fit, not just price. When several buyers understand the sector, hands-on support, size, culture, and alignment with management plans can become deciding factors.

Every business has a story. Every transaction needs a strategy. A competitive process can align liquidity, continued founder involvement, clinical culture, growth capital, and long-term strategy in one transaction.

Considering a Sale?

Thinking About Selling Your Home Infusion or Healthcare Services Company?

Valley Vital Care's story shows how the right transaction can create liquidity without ending the growth story. Sunbelt Atlanta helps owners evaluate strategic and financial buyers through confidential, competitive sale processes with no upfront fees.

Request a Business Valuation Talk With a Dealmaker

About Sunbelt Atlanta

Helping Business Owners Navigate Successful Transitions Since 1998

Since 1998, Sunbelt Atlanta has helped business owners across Georgia and the Southeast sell their companies confidentially and on their own terms. With more than 1,250 businesses sold, a no-upfront-fee, success-driven approach, and experience across industries including healthcare services and home infusion, Sunbelt Atlanta's Dealmakers guide owners through every stage of a sale, from valuation through closing.

Owners of home infusion, specialty pharmacy, and healthcare services companies who are considering a sale or growth partnership, whether now or a few years down the road, are welcome to begin with a confidential conversation about their options.