Waud Capital Forms Partnership with TDDC to Create “The GI Alliance”

Waud Capital Forms Partnership with TDDC to Create “The GI Alliance”

Chicago, IL – November 7, 2018 – Waud Capital Partners, LLC (WCP), a leading growth-oriented middle-market private equity firm, today announced a partnership with Texas Digestive Disease Consultants (TDDC) and its founder and President, Dr. James Weber, to create The GI Alliance (TGIA).

Headquartered in Dallas, TDDC is the largest independent gastroenterology practice in the U.S., measured both by provider count and by revenue, operating in 110 office locations and endoscopy centers in Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio, Houston, and several metropolitan markets in Louisiana.  In addition to its core gastrointestinal (GI) services, TDDC provides ancillary services including pathology, anesthesiology, infusion, specialty pharmacy, radiology, and clinical research.  To support its providers, TDDC operates a Central Business Office with more than 200 professionals who provide end-to-end services, including finance and accounting, revenue cycle management, electronic medical record support, human-resources, compliance, data analysis, and managed care contracting.

The vision of the GI Alliance is to be the preeminent gastroenterology practice management company in the U.S.  TGIA’s partner practices will share common values and objectives while benefiting from increased scale and expanded service lines, but they will retain the ability to operate substantially independently from one another on a day-to-day basis.  With TDDC as its first “hub” practice, TGIA is already in discussions with over a dozen more potential partner practices across multiple regions of the U.S.

David Neighbours, Partner at WCP, said, “Dr. Weber built TDDC over the past two decades by bringing together GI doctors who share his unwavering dedication to high-quality patient care.  Through our firm’s extensive experience investing in physician practices, WCP shares Dr. Weber’s conviction that clinical quality is the foundation of success.  With TGIA, we are now setting off to do what TDDC has already done in Texas and Louisiana on an even larger scale.”

Edward Sohn, Vice President at WCP, remarked, “We are thrilled to partner with Dr. Weber, who is both an excellent clinician and a visionary business leader.  To grow TGIA, we will affiliate with physician groups who embrace a patient-first approach and who appreciate that to be successful in today’s healthcare market, a practice needs to expand and pursue operational efficiencies.”

Dr. Jim Weber, CEO of TGIA and President of TDDC, said, “The mission of The GI Alliance is to preserve and progress the independent private practice of gastroenterology nationwide.  We aim for TGIA to be the most attractive employment option for new and established physicians alike.  With that mindset, my physician partners and I selected Waud Capital from more than 60 private equity firms who approached us, many of which presented equal or better financial terms.  Waud’s experience, partnership philosophy, and impressive track record with physician practice investments ultimately drove our decision.  We believe WCP is the ideal partner for TGIA.”

GSO, the credit arm of The Blackstone Group, provided financing for the transaction.  Nexus Health Capital acted as exclusive investment banking advisor to TDDC.

About Waud Capital Partners
Based in Chicago, Waud Capital Partners is a leading growth-oriented private equity firm with total capital commitments of approximately $2.1 billion since its founding in 1993.  WCP partners with exceptional management teams to build market-leading companies in two industries: healthcare services and business and technology services.  Since its founding, the firm has successfully completed over 250 investments, including platform companies and follow-on opportunities.

For additional information on WCP, please visit www.waudcapital.com.

For Further Information:
Meghan Slentz, Director – Investor Relations
Waud Capital Partners
(312) 676-8431
[email protected]

Media Contact:
Nick Rust, Prosek Partners
(646) 502-4520
[email protected]