Cypress Care Inc., a leading workers' compensation pharmacy benefits manager, Announces Strategic investment by Brazos Private Equity Partners and the addition of David A. George to its senior management team
ATLANTA and DALLAS, Nov. 13, 2006 — Cypress Care Inc., of Atlanta, a leading provider of workers’ compensation Pharmacy Benefits Manager (PBM) services, today announced that Brazos Private Equity Partners, LLC, a leading Dallas-based private investment firm, and David A. George, formerly President of AdvancePCS, have partnered with Cypress Care senior management to make a strategic investment in the company and position it for continued growth and continued outstanding service for its workers’ comp PBM clients.
As a part of the transaction, financial terms of which were not disclosed, the Brazos-led group has become the company’s majority investor, while Cypress Care’s founding family and management team continue to hold a significant ownership position in the company and will continue to serve its clients, execute its business strategy, drive growth and innovation, and build the value of the enterprise for everyone concerned.
In addition to his participation in the investment, Mr. George, 51, President of AdvancePCS prior to its merger with Caremark Rx, Inc., in 2003, has been named Chief Executive Officer of Cypress Care, succeeding co-founder Hank Datelle, 64, who has decided to transition to an active but less demanding role as a senior adviser to the company as well as a board member.
Also joining the Cypress Care management team and participating in the transaction is F. Bartow (Bart) Hester, who as a Senior Vice President at AdvancePCS from 1999 to 2003 led that company’s sales and business development activities, and who will serve as Cypress Care’s Executive Vice President of Account Management & Strategy, a new position. Mr. George and Mr. Hester join a management team that will continue to include Marc Datelle as President; Timothy D. Vroman as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer; Lisa Datelle as co-founder and Executive Vice President; and David Dubrof as Executive Vice President of Sales, all of whom will serve along with Mr. George and Mr. Hester on a newly formed operating committee.
Hank Datelle said: “Since my daughter Lisa and I formed the company in July 2001, Cypress Care has established itself as a major and rapidly growing Pharmacy Benefits Manager—one of a very few focused exclusively on the workers’ compensation PBM business. Our customer base includes some of the largest private/governmental employers and insurance companies in the United States. We have an outstanding management team that will be even stronger and better positioned to support continued growth with the addition of David and Bart. Our strengths also include a fully implemented advanced technology platform and a culture that inspires excellence among our dedicated employees—all resulting in unparalleled customer service. The decision of Brazos and of David George, along with Bart Hester, to make a strategic investment in Cypress Care, and of David and Bart to join our management team is a strong endorsement of how far we have come as a company over the past five and a half years.”
Marc Datelle, president of Cypress Care, said: “I’m proud to welcome David George and Bart Hester to the company both as investors and as important additions to our growing management team. David and Bart’s world-class experience in leading and growing major PBM companies will clearly help us take every aspect of Cypress Care’s business to a new level. Importantly, David and Bart, as well as Brazos, share and support our vision, values, commitment to excellence and innovation, and—above all—commitment to meeting our clients’ needs. I look forward to working with them to continue, and build upon, the Cypress Care tradition of leadership within the workers’ comp PBM industry.”
David A. George said of his appointment as Cypress Care’s Chief Executive Officer: “I am personally delighted to join Marc Datelle, Tim Vroman, Lisa Datelle, David Dubrof and their colleagues on the Cypress Care management team. In a remarkably short time, they and Hank Datelle have grown Cypress Care into a major provider of workers’ comp PBM services and positioned it for continued leadership in that rapidly growing business. I look forward to working with them, Bart Hester, and the entire Cypress Care organization to provide our clients with workers’ comp PBM services second to none and to achieve the company’s strategic, operational and financial objectives.”
Jeff S. Fronterhouse, a Brazos Partner, said: “Cypress Care is a well-positioned, high-growth company with a great future. We are delighted to become major investors in Cypress Care, and particularly delighted that we were able to join with David George to organize this transaction and bring David, Bart and Cypress Care together. We look forward to partnering with David, Marc and the entire Cypress Care team to help them build the company’s value for its clients, employees, and shareholders.”
About David A. George
David George is one of the nation’s most experienced and accomplished health care industry executives. Over the past 25 years, he has served in key executive positions with businesses focused on management and delivery of health care services to the nation’s largest payors. From 2000 through 2003, he served as President of AdvancePCS, the nation’s largest pharmacy benefits manager and health services company, serving 75 million members and managing more than $25 billion in pharmaceutical expenditures through approximately 600 million transactions annually. Mr. George served as a director and Executive Vice President of the predecessor company, Advance Paradigm, Inc. from 1998 to 2000. From 1998 through the company’s sale to Caremark RX, Inc. (NYSE: CMX) in 2004, the combined company experienced record growth, resulting in an increase in market capitalization from approximately $265 million to approximately $7.2 billion. From 1995 through 1998, Mr. George served as Executive Vice President of United HealthCare, a leading health plan and managed health care services company. Additionally, among other directorships, Mr. George for the past three years has served on the board of Concentra, one of the nation's largest providers of managed workers’ compensation care and services to both the occupational and commercial group health care markets.
About Cypress Care Inc.
Cypress Care is a leader in the management of rising claims expense related to pharmacy and ancillary service benefits for the workers' compensation, Auto and Medicare Set-Aside markets. With its comprehensive, powerful technology and industry expertise, the company has created a new standard in cost management and customer service. Cypress Care’s strategic objectives center around the delivery of products and services that address a broad spectrum of integrated healthcare services that contribute significantly to the reduction of claims cost. The company’s customers include some of the largest private/governmental employers and insurance companies in the United States. For more information, please visit www.cypresscare.com.
About Brazos Private Equity Partners, LLC
Brazos Private Equity Partners, LLC, of Dallas, one of the most active middle-market private investment firms in the United States, specializes in leveraged acquisitions and recapitalizations of established, profitable companies with strong and proven management teams, predictable cash flows and significant growth potential. Brazos partners with management teams to invest in consumer, distribution, financial services, healthcare, manufacturing and media businesses. Since inception, Brazos has completed thirty-three transactions, including, among others, National Surgical Care, The Republic Group of Insurance Companies; Walls Industries; and ORS Nasco. The firm has in excess of $650 million under management and is currently investing Brazos Equity Fund II, L.P., an investment partnership with $400 million in subscriptions. For additional information about Brazos, please visit the firm’s website at www.brazospartners.com.