By: Brianne Pfannenstiel, Reporter- Kansas City Business Journal
After a decade of growth, ARC Physical Therapy+ agreed to sell a majority stake to U.S. Physical Therapy Inc.
The deal closed for $36 million on December 13. USPh acquired 90 percent of Overland Park-based ARC, which provides physical therapy treatment with a focus on workers’ compensation and employee wellness.
Houston-based USPh runs 447 outpatient physical and occupational therapy clinics in 43 states. It will provide administrative operations for ARC, including facility design and leasing, equipment supply, payroll and legal support.
The big selling point, ARC founder and CEO Matt Condon said, was USPH’s willingness to continue expanding the company under ARC’s brand and logo.
“Our people have built something that is really special, so I didn’t want it to become somebody else’s name,” Condon said. “And what was nice about it is that for the partner we chose, they didn’t want that, either. They wanted it to be ARC’s brand and logo. So it wasn’t a difficult negotiation.”
Condon will remain CEO, and two other ARC executives– COO Jeff Weeks and Chief Marketing and Acquisitions Officer Brian Stewart– will be given an ownership stake in the company. Stewart was the first employee of ARC.
“We’ve really experienced a pretty great run,” Stewart said. “It’s extremely rewarding.”
For Condon, he said he never could have planned out the success ARC has had through the years. He said he still remembers starting out a decade ago and paying the rent for his and his wife’s small apartment on a credit card.
“You know, we were really happy,” he said of that time period. “And things are different now, but it hasn’t changed our happiness. We’re not more happy. We’re still happy. And I’m proud of that.”
*Reprinted with permission from the Kansas City Business Journal
