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Press Release
Source: Robert Weiner Associates/CRC Health Group & Aspen Education
CRC Health
Group to Acquire Aspen Education, Leading Provider of Treatment to
Struggling Adolescents and Young Adults
Friday September
29, 2006
CUPERTINO,
Calif., Sept. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Dr. Barry Karlin, Chairman & CEO of
CRC Health Group, the nation's largest chemical dependency and
related behavioral health organization, today announced the signing
of a definitive merger agreement to acquire Aspen Education Group,
the foremost provider of educational assistance to struggling young
people and their families. Terms of the agreement, which is expected
to close in mid-November, were not disclosed.
"The merger of
these two like-minded companies will create a synergy of treatment
and educational options that is unprecedented," said Karlin, "CRC
and Aspen are both leaders in our respective fields, and together we
can offer families of adolescents and young adults a wider and more
comprehensive range of services with greater depth of program
expertise."
"Both CRC and
Aspen have been highly successful in helping individuals and
families reclaim their lives," stated Elliot Sainer, CEO and
co-founder of Aspen Education Group. "We will benefit from the
collective synergy that comes from combining two dynamic
organizations. At the same time, Aspen will be able to take
advantage of CRC's world-class research and technology as well as
their well-established expertise in the areas of substance abuse and
other addictive behaviors."
Headquartered in
Cerritos, California, Aspen will be established as a separate
division of CRC Health Group. Sainer, who has 30 years of experience
as a leader in education and behavioralhealthcare, will continue as
President of the Aspen Education Group Division, and is expected to
join the Board of Directors of CRC.
"Both programs
offer cultures of treatment excellence as their transcendent value,"
added Dr. Karlin. "Together we can build on our joint vision: to
create a world-class organization that sets the standard of
excellence in treatment and education for adolescents in need."
Sainer continued, "I have every confidence that CRC is the best and
right partner for Aspen, as our combined resources will permit us to
assist even more families who are in need of the educational and
treatment services that we provide."
This merger
agreement follows in the wake of the February 2006 sale of CRC
Health Group to Bain Capital, a leading global private equity firm.
"We have been extremely pleased with the performance of CRC, and
believe the marriage of these highly complementary organizations
creates a powerful presence in behavioral health with strong
continued growth prospects," said John Connaughton, a Managing
Director at Bain Capital. "We also see significant potential to
leverage customer bases, business development activities, clinical
operations, and support functions to provide a broader range of
services while enhancing the effectiveness of care delivery and
customer service."
About Aspen
Education Group
Aspen Education
Group is recognized nationwide as the leading private sector
provider of education programs for struggling or under-achieving
adolescents and young adults. With over 30 programs in 12 states,
Aspen provides to students and families a comprehensive range of
therapeutic interventions, and in 2005 provided assistance to over
4,000 families from every State in the US plus 16 foreign countries.
These include: therapeutic boarding schools, residential treatment
facilities, wilderness therapy programs, summer camps, and the
nation's first residential school for pediatric obesity. Aspen
Education Group, headquartered in Cerritos, California, has been
featured by leading news and television organizations including: US
News and World Report, USA Today, People Magazine, NY Times,
Dateline NBC, Good Morning America, and the syndicated TV program
"Dr. Phil.," Aspen is currently privately- held with their principal
shareholders including the well-known private equity firms, Frazier
Healthcare Ventures, Warburg Pincus & Sprout Group.
For further
information visit Aspen's website: http://www.aspeneducation.com.
About CRC
Health Group
CRC Health Group
has set the standard of excellence as the nation's leading provider
of chemical dependency and related behavioral health services. CRC
treats more than 24,000 clients every day in more than 100
facilities across 23 states. The company offers a continuum of
services tailored to the needs of the individual client no matter
where they are in the life-cycle of their disease. These include
detoxification, residential, day treatment, intensive outpatient,
extended living, and continuing care services. CRC Health also
operates nation-wide Eating Disorder programs, Co- occurring
disorders and Dual Diagnosis facilities that specialize in emotional
trauma as well as many addiction specialty tracks. Recent additions
to the CRC family of companies include the highly prestigious Sierra
Tucson program, Life Healing Center, Wellness Resource Center and
Sober Living by the Sea. CRC Health also offers the nation's first
full accredited online treatment program, eGetgoing.com. CRC has
enjoyed since its inception in 1995 a wealth of exposure in the
national television, radio & print media.
For further
information visit our website http://www.crchealth.com
About Bain
Capital
Bain Capital
(http://www.baincapital.com) is a global private investment firm
that manages several pools of capital including private equity,
venture capital, public equity, and leveraged debt assets with more
than $40 billion in assets under management. Since its inception in
1984, Bain Capital has made private equity investments and add-on
acquisitions in over 230 companies around the world, including such
healthcare companies as Warner Chilcott, Accellent, Wesley Jessen,
Stericycle, Physio Control, Epoch, CRC Health Group and M/C
Communications. Headquartered in Boston, Bain Capital has offices in
New York, London, Munich, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Tokyo.
Media
Contacts:
For CRC
Health & Aspen Education:
Robert Weiner (301) 283-0821/(202) 329-1700
weinerpublic@comcast.net
For Bain
Capital:
Alex Stanton
Stanton Crenshaw Communications
212-780-0701
alex@stantoncrenshaw.com
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