Happy Fri-yay, Hubsters! It’s Aaron here on the wire – your favorite way to wind the week down! Holding strong. We’ve been hearing from sources that valuations are holding relatively steady despite the slowdown in deal activity, and this morning I have some data to share on that topic. While completed deal volume was down markedly in the first half of 2022, valuations for mid-market companies acquired by private equity groups and other deal sponsors held strong at an average of 7.4x EBITDA, according to a survey from GF Data, an ACG company. “While volume is down, businesses with above-average financial characteristics continued to account for an increased portion of completed deal activity, with these deals comprising 68 percent of the total compared to a historic norm of 57 percent,” according to survey results. Mental health. Yesterday, Thoma Bravo announced a $130 million minority growth investment in Alma, along with Cigna Ventures. Alma, a membership-based network that helps independent mental healthcare providers accept insurance and build private practices, has existing investors that include Insight Partners, Optum Ventures, Tusk Venture Partners, Primary Venture Partners, and Sound Ventures. This brings overall funding to over $220 million thus far. Alma aims to leverage technology to transform behavioral healthcare. I reached out to Ross Devor, a partner at Thoma Bravo, about the investment over email. He told me that the firm has been actively evaluating companies across the space, but Alma stands out in a number of ways. “Their provider-centric approach, within a model that rewards participants from all sides as utilization increases, is powerful,” Devor wrote. “Additionally, Alma has built a technology platform that will enable more effective matching between patients and providers. Alma’s platform enables the company to capture data around outcomes that will elevate the care payers fund while reducing their overall cost of care for their populations as behavioral health access and quality increase.” This round of funding will help therapists offer in-network care in all 50 states as well as be used to fund expansion and to invest in Alma’s technology roadmap. Dentist to Veterinarian. An investment banker alerted me to this deal: The Aspen Group (TAG) is acquiring AZPetVet, a group of 22 veterinary hospitals in the Phoenix Area. It’s part of TAG’s ongoing expansion beyond dentistry. TAG was formerly named Aspen Dental Management. It is owned by private equity firms Leonard Green, Ares Capital and American Securities. The new deal means that one of the biggest players in the dental space is expanding to veterinary care in a big way. I think this is a very interesting move, and I would love to hear your thoughts on it! Feel free to hit me up at aaron.w@peimedia.com. I’m especially interested these days in talking with investment bankers who can shed light on valuations and returns in PE-backed healthcare deals, so please feel free to reach out to me if you fit in that category and want to talk about the market! Doubled revenue. My colleague Obey Martin Manayiti covered Alpine’s exit of Mindful, a provider of contact-center automation. He spoke with Haley Beck, a principal at the San Francisco PE firm, to find out more about the exit. The firm more than doubled the company’s revenue in the four-year hold period. “This was really a transformation story,” Beck said. “We converted the business from a traditional on-premise perpetual license model to an SaaS revenue and cloud deployment model.” Read the whole story here. That’s a wrap for me. I am on double dog sitting duty again this weekend. Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend, until next time! Cheers, Aaron Read the full wire commentary on PE Hub ... | 