While healthcare private equity often captures headlines through hospital acquisitions and physician practice consolidation, Reeve Waud has quietly built one of the sector’s most successful investment franchises by focusing on specialized services and supply chain businesses. The recent announcement of a $100 million partnership with Bill Mixon demonstrates the approach that has enabled Waud Capital Partners to generate consistent returns across multiple healthcare subsectors for over three decades.
From a self-funded startup in Lake Forest, Illinois, to managing approximately $4.6 billion in assets, Reeve Waud’s journey illustrates how systematic investment methodology and executive partnership focus can create sustained competitive advantages in healthcare private equity.
Foundation Years and Investment Philosophy Development (1993-2005)
Reeve Waud founded Waud Capital Partners in 1993 after gaining investment experience at prominent firms including the venture capital group at Salomon Brothers and Chicago-based private equity firm GTCR. The firm began as a one-person operation with Reeve Waud’s personal capital, reflecting his conviction about opportunities in middle-market growth investing.
“The beginning days were far from glamorous, and the future was entirely uncertain, but I had confidence in the opportunity to partner with exceptional executives and build exciting and profitable companies,” Reeve Waud reflected on the firm’s early years.
The firm raised its first institutional fund in 1998, establishing the foundation for systematic growth while maintaining focus on companies with equity investment needs between $75-200 million. This middle-market positioning proved prescient, as many companies in this segment were underserved by both traditional buyout firms and venture capital investors.
Reeve Waud’s early investment approach emphasized operational improvement and growth rather than financial engineering, a methodology that would later prove essential for building healthcare services platforms requiring deep sector expertise and long-term capital commitment.
Breakthrough Healthcare Platform Development
The 2005 founding of Acadia Healthcare marked a defining moment for both Reeve Waud personally and Waud Capital Partners. Rather than acquiring an existing behavioral health provider, Waud Capital created Acadia as a startup platform, providing growth capital and guidance to build one of the nation’s largest behavioral hospital systems.
Under Reeve Waud’s leadership, Acadia expanded through both organic growth and acquisitions, ultimately achieving sufficient scale for a successful 2011 IPO. The company’s transformation from startup to public company leadership position demonstrated the potential for creating significant value through systematic platform building in healthcare services.
Reeve Waud continues to serve as Chairman of Acadia Healthcare’s board of directors, reflecting his long-term commitment to the businesses he helps create. The ongoing relationship illustrates his philosophy of building sustainable healthcare enterprises rather than pursuing quick exits.
Systematic Platform Development and Value Creation
Following the Acadia Healthcare success, Reeve Waud refined an investment methodology that emphasizes executive partnerships and systematic platform building. Waud Capital Partners has completed more than 450 investments since its founding, with healthcare comprising a significant portion of the portfolio across 20+ companies.
The firm’s buy-and-build approach typically involves 10+ add-on acquisitions per healthcare platform investment, generating average revenue growth of 400% for realized investments. This systematic methodology requires patient capital, operational expertise, and vision—capabilities that Waud Capital Partners has developed through decades of healthcare services investing.
Notable exits including the $2.2 billion recapitalization of GI Alliance demonstrate the value creation potential when Reeve Waud’s systematic approach is combined with proven executive leadership. The gastroenterology platform grew from a startup to the nation’s largest independent GI practice management company in just four years under Waud Capital Partners’ ownership.
Current Market Position and Platform Direction
Bill Mixon’s partnership demonstrates the continued development of Reeve Waud’s investment approach, focusing on healthcare supply chain services where market fragmentation creates compelling consolidation opportunities. With over $100 million in committed equity capital, the platform demonstrates Waud Capital Partners’ ability to deploy significant resources behind proven executives in attractive healthcare subsectors.
“This is our second dedicated campaign in the medical device and supply chain services market in the last two years and we are thrilled about the prospects of what we can accomplish during our partnership with Bill,” said Kyle Lattner, Partner at Waud Capital.
Healthcare supply chain focus builds on existing Waud Capital Partners investments including Mopec Group, PromptCare, and Provider Network Holdings, creating a complementary portfolio of healthcare services businesses. Reeve Waud’s systematic approach to building related platforms enables operational synergies and best practice sharing across portfolio companies.
From its relocation to downtown Chicago in 2009 to its current team of nearly 70 professionals, Waud Capital Partners has maintained focus on partnership-driven growth while building institutional capabilities necessary to compete for the largest healthcare services opportunities.
Three decades after founding Waud Capital Partners as a one-person operation, Reeve Waud has built a healthcare-focused private equity powerhouse positioned for continued leadership in healthcare services consolidation. Bill Mixon’s partnership demonstrates that systematic investment methodology, executive partnership focus, and patient capital can create sustained competitive advantages in healthcare private equity.
