HealthSouth’s Encompass Acquires CareSouth Health System for $170 Million

Ropes & Gray represented HealthSouth Corporation in connection with the agreement by its Encompass Home Health operating unit to acquire the home health agency operations of CareSouth Health System, Inc. for $170 million. Birmingham, Ala.-based HealthSouth is one of the nation’s largest providers of post-acute health care services. CareSouth, which is based in Augusta, Ga., provides home health, hospice and private duty services in 45 locations across the mid-Atlantic and southeast region of the United States.

The transaction, announced Aug. 31, is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals, and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2015.

The Ropes & Gray team was led by private equity partner Neill Jakobe (Chicago); tax partner Aaron Harsh (Boston); health care partner Deborah Gersh (Chicago); intellectual property transactions counsel Thomas Burke (New York); antitrust counsel Deidre Johnson (Boston); and private equity associate Timothy Castelli.