Private Equity · Profile from Private Equity Research Companion
Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe (WCAS) (1979 – present)
New York–based private equity firm focused exclusively on healthcare and technology — a two-sector specialisation it has kept since its founding in 1979. WCAS is one of the most experienced healthcare-services investors in the industry (MedPartners, Select Medical, Concentra, AmeriPath, US Oncology, USAP, InnovAge, Kindred). It is also the sponsor named in the FTC's landmark 2023 antitrust "roll-up" case over U.S. Anesthesia Partners, which it settled via a 10-year consent order in 2025. Its latest flagship, WCAS XIV, closed at $5 billion in 2023 with a ~95% LP re-up rate.
9 deals and moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
1993
MedPartners
Physician Practice Management Roll-Up
1996
Alliance Data Systems
Carve-Out Combination Platform
1996
Select Medical
Founder Partnership, IPO, Take-Private and Re-IPO
1999
Concentra
Take-Private of an Occupational Health Leader
2003
AmeriPath
Take-Private of an Anatomic Pathology Roll-Up
2004
US Oncology
Take-Private of an Oncology Network
2012
US Anesthesia Partners
Anesthesia Roll-Up and the FTC "Roll-Up" Antitrust Case
2016
InnovAge
PACE Platform Investment and Troubled IPO
2018
Kindred Healthcare
Consortium Take-Private and Break-Up