Partners Group Buys Careismatic Brands for $1.3 Billion

(Bloomberg) -- Partners Group Holding AG bought medical-apparel company Careismatic Brands for about $1.3 billion including debt, according to a person with knowledge of the matter, in the private equity firm’s latest health-care deal.

The Swiss company purchased Careismatic from private equity shop New Mountain Capital, according to a statement Thursday that didn’t disclose terms of the transaction. Partners Group plans to bolster Careismatic’s growth by introducing new products and digitizing sales and marketing.

Partners Group, with more than $96 billion in assets, has been pursuing deals in niche segments of the health-care industry. Recent acquisitions include vision-services provider EyeCare Partners and Wedgewood Pharmacy, which provides specialty medications for animals. In August, Partners Group agreed to sell its majority stake in supply-chain outsourcing specialist PCI Pharma Services to Kohlberg & Co. and Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment.

Careismatic, based in Chatsworth, California, manufactures and sells medical, corporate and school uniforms in 70 countries under about 15 brands, including Cherokee Uniforms, Dickies Medical, Infinity and Scrubstar. The company, with operations in the U.S., Canada, Europe and Asia, has more than 730 employees.

“The medical and nursing community, in particular, have been under a tremendous amount of strain, and this is a company that has been able to service this market well and has been able to help nurses feel good about how they come to work,” Partners Group Co-Chief Executive Officer David Layton said in an interview. “They have very interesting product lines, such as adaptive clothing and anti-microbial laundry solutions that have become increasingly important during Covid.”

Based in Zug, Switzerland, Partners Group focuses on upper-middle-market transactions valued at $500 million to $2.5 billion. It previously was a shareholder of Careismatic’s predecessor, Strategic Partners Inc.

Partners Group, founded in 1996, has more than 1,500 employees and 20 offices globally, including a regional headquarters in Denver. The firm’s private equity business oversees $45 billion and has invested in more than 240 companies.

(Updates with statement in second paragraph, comment in fifth.)