Chicago Pacific’s inaugural fund reaches $440 mln

Chicago Pacific Founders, a healthcare-services specialist formed in 2014, wrapped up fundraising for its inaugural buyout pool with about $440 million in commitments, according to a source.

The total dollar figure includes $325 million for the fund and $115 million for a co-investment fund, the source said. The fundraising kicked off in October 2014, the date the firm listed on its Form D filing for the fund. As of Nov. 30, the fund had drawn in $184 million.

A spokesman for the firm did not return an email.

Chicago Pacific Founders listed three managing partners who helped launch the firm: Larry Leisure, formerly of Kleiner Perkins, Optum and Kaiser; Vance Vanier, formerly of Navigenics and Verinata; and Mary Tolan, founder of Accretive Health and former group chief executive at Accenture.

While at the reins of Accretive Health, Tolan steered the healthcare-service company to an initial public offering in 2010.

Three more operating partners also helped launch Chicago Pacific Founders:  John Rijos, former chief operating officer of Brookdale Senior Living; Greg Kazarian, formerly an executive at Accretive, and Etienne Deffarges, former vice chairman of Accretive.

George P. Schulz, former U.S. secretary of state and U.S. treasury secretary, sits on the advisory board of Chicago Pacific Founders. Steven Gruber, a founder of Oak Hill Capital Partners, serves as an advisory managing partner at the firm.

The firm’s founders “shared a belief that the most significant societal impact and investment returns from healthcare for the next decade will be generated by investment in delivery model innovation,” according to its website.

The Chicago firm seeks out companies with positive cash flow and growth prospects in the U.S. and Canada, with equity commitments as large as $75 million, not including potential contributions from co-investors.

Chicago Pacific Founders lists three portfolio companies: CPF Living Communities, Marquee Dental and Recovery Ways.

In May, Marquee Dental inked an affiliation agreement with Signature Smile, a dental office business in Alabama. The company now operates in Alabama, Kentucky and Tennessee. Last December, Marquee Dental paid an undisclosed sum for Bohle Family Dentistry of Kentucky.

Action Item:  Interview with Chicago Pacific co-founders: http://bit.ly/29wy82V

A dental hygienist (r) from the U.S. Army National Guard screens a Surinamese native before treatment in the medical mission called New Horizons 2011, in the Brokopondo district August 15, 2011. Photo courtesy Reuters/Ranu Abhelakh