Acadia Healthcare scoops up rivals for $258M

FRANKLIN, Tenn. (AP) -- Acadia Healthcare Co. Inc. on Tuesday announced plans to buy two competitors for a combined $258 million.

Acadia, based outside Nashville in Franklin, Tenn., said it had agreed to buy Behavioral Centers of America, based in Nashville, and AmiCare Behavioral Centers, based in Fayetteville, Ark.

Behavioral Centers of America, or BCA, runs four psychiatric facilities, in Ohio, Michigan and Texas, with a total of 278 licensed inpatient beds. The purchase will mark Acadia's first move into Ohio. AmiCare runs four psychiatric facilities, all in Arkansas, with a total of 330 beds.

As of the end of September, Acadia had 33 facilities with more than 2,400 beds.

Acadia has been acquiring other behavioral health companies throughout the year, and has sold shares on the common market to help raise money for its expansion plans. In a statement Tuesday, CEO Joey Jacobs said Acadia would continue to consider buying more psychiatric facilities, looking at well-run and high-quality organizations, and called the inpatient behavioral health industry "fragmented."

Acadia agreed to pay $145 million for BCA and $113 million for AmiCare, both in cash. It said it expects the deals to be completed by December but didn't detail how it expects to pay, saying instead that it is "evaluating alternatives to finance these transactions." It said it expects the purchases to add to next year's financial results.

Acadia's stock declined 21 cents to $22.44 in morning trading.