Foundation Partners

Case Study

Key Details

Status: CurrentIndustry: End of Life Services

Theme: Shifting Demographic (Aging Baby Boomers)

Initial Investment: 2015

Add-On Acquisitions: 35

Headquarters: Orlando, FL

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I was really impressed with the way Access Holdings handled everything. From the first conversation to everything in between, they were very helpful and knowledgable.

Robert Bukala
Chief Executive Officer
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Incoming Thesis Highlights
Based on Access Holdings’ macro driven investment strategy, we identified several industries that would be positively impacted by the aging Baby Boomer demographic. Through careful examination and analysis, Access saw opportunity in the end of life services industry.

The industry displayed multiple key investment characteristics:

  • Provides an essential service that is not correlated to the broader economy
  • Highly fragmented industry (~19,000+funeral homes in the U.S.)
  • Opportunity to consolidate a market through partnering with multi-generation, family owned businesses
  • Opportunity to differentiate through offering a superior service offering
  • Ability to bring technology tools and systems to anunderinvested in market
  • Operating leverage and margin enhancement opportunities with scale
  • High barriers to entry

Access identified Foundation Partners Group (“FPG”) as a unique investment opportunity and completed the acquisition of the Company in 2015. FPG offered Access an opportunity to acquire a strong platform from which to execute itsstrategy for the end of life services industry.

Value Creation
Through ourownership period, Access has worked with the FPG management team to implement multiple value creation initiatives at the Company to drive growth, improve margins, and expand into new markets and products.
  • Moved the Company to a Cremation Focused Strategy: Seeing the shifting market landscape with consumers increasingly focused on selecting cremation services over burial services, Access focused the acquisition strategy as well as the go to market strategy for the existing funeral home operations to be highly focused on providing cremation services. As a result, the Company’s cremation mix has moved from 56% when Access acquired FPG to 87% (vs. the market average of 55%).
  • Implemented a PurposefulAcquisition Strategy: Access worked with FPG to build a robust corporative development team that has thus far executed on 33 add-on acquisitions. The team follows a purposeful origination, execution and assimilation process following Access’propriety corporate development.
  • Developed Operational Clusters: Through a targeted acquisition approach, FPG has been able to develop strong geographic clusters of funeral homes and cemetery operations in target marketswhere operational, labor, and marketing synergies can be realized.
  • Launched De Novo Operations: Implemented a de novo build-out strategy focused on the value end of the cremation market to serve as infills in existing operating clustersand deliver on consumer demands that weren’t currently being met by other funeral home providers
  • Expanded Preneed Strategy: FPG was able to leverage Access’ insurance expertise toenhance its preneed business–creating additional revenue and margin improvement opportunities
  • Human Capital Development: Supplemented the business with best-in-class operatorsand board membersto ensure the Company has the right person in the right seat at the right time at both the corporate and field level
  • Real Asset Monetization: Harvested excess real estate assetsto reinvest additional capital into the core operations of the businessand fund further acquisitions opportunities

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