In the wake of speculation about future growth in healthcare and medical-related industries – due in part to the new federal health reform law and such related news as the upward trend in hospital merger activity – Diamond Capital Partners (www.diamondcapitalpartners.com), a mid-market investment banking firm, is forging its own healthy outlook with co-founder and managing partner, Bruce Kobritz.
Mr. Kobritz brings more than two decades of transactional, operational and consulting experience with healthcare services, biotechnology, medical device and life sciences companies to Diamond Capital’s multi-faceted management roster, which boasts a combined 175 years of varied investment banking and advisory experience – in numerous industry arenas – amongst its seven other managing partners and directors.
Although swirling doubts do exist as to future growth for some healthcare and medical services-related companies, in the past two years (2009, 2010) of Fortune Magazine’s annual ranking of America’s largest corporations, or their famed “Fortune 500†(www.money.cnn.com), health and medical services-related companies have taken multiple spots in the top portion of the listing. And, Yahoo!® Finance continues to list biotechnology and major drug manufacturers among their “Top Industries†.
“We’re seeing healthcare industry giants like UnitedHealth revamping their service offerings and paring down product or service prices, and still coming out ahead in projections and performance,†says Mr. Kobritz. “Our healthcare clients – on both sides of the table – need advice from someone with deep industry experience who can help them to strategize for similar success, and plan the most optimal outcome, no matter their deal situation.â€
As a principal and an operator of both investment banking and medical technology consulting firms, Mr. Kobritz possesses special insight into maximizing shareholder value for the healthcare clients that he advises in transactions.
“Regardless of the future of healthcare-related companies, [Diamond Capital] is strengthening our ability to service our healthcare clients by leveraging Bruce’s industry-specific operational, M&A and capital raising experience in the turbulent healthcare marketplace,†says Mark R. Ross, a Diamond Capital co-founder and managing partner.
Prior to joining Diamond Capital Partners, Mr. Kobritz was a managing director at Mosaic Capital Securities, LLC, where he led the healthcare practice for the investment banking firm. Mr. Kobritz was also previously a director with the turnaround and restructuring firm Crossroads Capital Partners, where he was involved in a wide array of sell-side, buy-side, capital raising, restructuring, valuation, due diligence and operational assignments.
During his healthcare-focused career, Mr. Kobritz has served as administrator of the Emergency Room at UCLA Medical Center; he has led the planning process for all major critical-care hospital medical service expansions for Southern California Kaiser Permanente; and, he has directed company-wide financial, administrative, performance review and operational activities for a national hospital management company, leading to the expansion of several tertiary centers including the Sherman Oaks Burn Center.
Mr. Kobritz has conducted a variety of sell-side transactions such as the sale of a diagnostic sleep laboratory chain and durable medical equipment company to a private equity group; the sale of a pharmacy cost containment firm functioning as a Medicaid Program Integrity Contractor, to a major NYSE company; and, the sale of a rapid DNA reagent manufacturing and research laboratory company, to Applied Biosystems/Celera.
Mr. Kobritz has also provided sell-side advisory services to hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, medical spas, independent practice associations (IPAs), prepaid health plans (PHPs), physician management organizations (PMOs), physician groups and plastic surgery practices. He has provided buy-side advisory services to a variety of entities ranging from medical practices to skilled nursing facility management companies, to MRI and specialty pharmacy companies.
Mr. Kobritz advised a half-billion dollar NYSE health insurance company’s bondholders concerning a $100 million bond default, performing a valuation for recapitalized bond underwriting that led to the purchase of the company by an international investment bank. Mr. Kobritz has also advised the Creditor’s Committee of a managed healthcare provider network following the State of California’s takeover of the billion dollar, at-risk capitation physician practice management company.
Mr. Kobritz has provided recommendations to special assets departments of the largest U.S. banks in situations such as assessing the viability of their bank loans to a multi-location hospital chain, a state-of-the-art medical equipment company and a nationwide behavioral healthcare company. He has also designed and implemented a successful fundraising strategy for a cardiac medical device company. And, he has provided expert witness services in healthcare cases determining HMO and physician practice valuation, and has provided financial advisory services to debtor and creditor bankruptcy cases.
Mr. Kobritz received a Masters of Science in Business Administration from UCLA Anderson School of Management, and his B.B.A. from the University of Massachusetts. He has been a judge for UCLA Anderson School of Management’s Knapp Venture Competition, he has chaired the UCLA Year 2000 Conference on the Future of Healthcare and the Internet, and has been a guest lecturer at UCLA School of Public Health. Mr. Kobritz also founded UCLA Venture Capital and Private Equity Alumni, www.uclavc.org.
Mr. Kobritz has been a featured presenting speaker at healthcare, e-health, and investment banking conferences ranging from the Neuro Venture Forum in San Francisco, to a variety of national and international conferences in Chicago, New Orleans, Palm Springs, Washington, D.C. and most recently, Tel Aviv, Israel. He is licensed as a registered representative with the FINRA.
Mr. Kobritz is available for interviews and/or comment, as well as additional public speaking opportunities, as a financial services and strategic advisory expert in the healthcare, biotechnology, life sciences and medical devices industries.
About Diamond Capital Partners
Diamond Capital Partners is currently led by its five founding and managing members, David Herman, Bruce Kobritz, Mark R. Ross, Robert T. Smith and Robert K. Whyte, each of whom has extensive transactional and negotiating skills, along with significant, corporate operational expertise. Diamond Capital Partners is headquartered in Century City, Los Angeles, with additional operations in New York.
Diamond Capital’s goal is to maximize clients’ shareholder value by providing senior-level banking and corporate strategic advisory services in mergers and acquisitions, and corporate finance. The firm focuses on privately held companies with revenues of up to $200 million, and serves transactional arenas such as advertising and media, food services, consumer products, business services, entertainment, manufacturing, healthcare, Internet and technology, real estate, infrastructure, medical devices, retail and distribution, and alternative energy. Diamond Capital Partners works on both the buy- and sell-side of recapitalization and merger/acquisition transactions.
The Diamond Capital team’s experience and expansive network of institutional and high-net worth investors allows them to – among other services – conduct high-end, efficient auctions, often saving time and producing better-than-market valuations. Diamond Capital looks to take the most direct route in any given transaction situation; honing in on targeted opportunities in order to present the best possible scenario to its clients, allowing the client to focus on, and attain, their most optimal deal results. The Diamond Capital Partners team has completed hundreds of successful transactions, ranging from $10 million to over $200 million in value.
For further information and updates on Diamond Capital Partners www.diamondcapitalpartners.com.
