Cimarron buys Ascent Behavioral

Cimarron Healthcare Capital, a Salt Lake City-based private equity firm focused on healthcare investments in the lower middle-market, has acquired Ascent Behavioral Health in partnership with Ascent’s management team and investment partners Monroe Capital LLC and Veronis Suhler Stevenson. Also based in Salt Lake City, Ascent provides wilderness therapy, residential treatment and therapeutic boarding school programs for adolescents with mental health issues such as depression, anxiety and attachment disorder.{mprestriction ids="1,3"}

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

“Ascent has been improving the lives of adolescents and their families through their comprehensive experiential therapeutic programs for over 30 years,” said James Nadauld, managing partner of Cimarron.

The investment will be used to support the expansion of Ascent’s existing programs and potential acquisitions of complementary programs, Nadauld said.

“We are thrilled to have the support of partners with a proven track record of supporting growth and who share our vision for providing unmatched clinical care,” said Steve Nadauld, CEO of Ascent. “CHC and its partners delivered a flexible capital solution that will enable us to continue building a robust, patient-centric platform and pursue the next chapter of our growth.”

Monroe Capital LLC is a private credit asset management firm headquartered in Chicago and specializing in direct lending and opportunistic private credit investing. Veronis Suhler Stevenson is a New York City-based private investment firm that invests in the healthcare, information, business services and education industries.

Founded in 1989, Ascent operates six residential programs in Utah that deliver behavioral health treatment to adolescents. The company has treated over 5,000 youths between the ages of 12 and 18 who have come from all over the world.{/mprestriction}