DFB Healthcare Acquisitions Completes Merger with AdaptHealth, Launching Nasdaq-Listed AHCO

On November 11, 2019, VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) learned via Business Wire that special purpose acquisition company DFB Healthcare Acquisitions Corp. (“DFB”) and medical device company AdaptHealth announced the completion of their business combination. The transaction was approved at DFB’s special meeting of shareholders held on November 7, 2019.

It is reported that the merged company will be named AdaptHealth and will list on the Nasdaq Stock Market on November 11, 2019, under the ticker symbol AHCO. Following the completion of the merger, AdaptHealth will continue to be led by an experienced team of healthcare industry and financial professionals, with Luke McGee serving as Chief Executive Officer and Josh Parnes as President.

Headquartered in New York, USA, DFB is a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) sponsored by the asset management firm Deerfield Management (“Deerfield”). The company is primarily engaged in business combinations, asset acquisitions, stock purchases, and corporate restructurings within the healthcare sector. SPACs typically facilitate a company’s public listing through mergers or acquisitions, representing a fund product designed for investors in the U.S. financial industry. The SPAC model for raising capital and going public incorporates features of various financial instruments, including direct listings, mergers, reverse takeovers, and private placements, to achieve the objective of enabling companies to raise funds through an initial public offering.

AdaptHealth, founded in 2012 and headquartered in Pennsylvania, USA, is the third-largest home medical equipment (HME) provider in the United States. The company primarily rents and sells medical products such as sleep apnea ventilators, oxygen equipment, wheelchairs, walkers, and hospital beds, delivering home healthcare services to more than one million patients annually. Driven by population aging, rising prevalence of chronic diseases, and the ongoing shift of healthcare delivery from institutional settings to the home, the market size for these medical products has exceeded $1.2 billion.

AdaptHealth primarily provides sleep therapy devices such as CPAP and BiPAP, home oxygen equipment, and related chronic disease management services for patients with conditions like obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Additionally, the company offers wound care, nutritional health, and hospice care services.

Compared with other HME companies, AdaptHealth holds a distinct competitive advantage in the industry by virtue of its leading technology platform. Designed specifically for the evolving HME sector, the company’s technology platform features automated and integrated workflows that significantly enhance medical efficiency. AdaptHealth is committed to providing healthcare professionals and patients with rapid and efficient services through advanced equipment and its technology platform, thereby improving patient adherence and promoting the development of the HME industry.

Richard Barasch, the newly appointed Chairman of the Board of AdaptHealth, stated, “On behalf of DFB and Deerfield, I am pleased to announce the completion of this transaction. Luke and his team have actively expanded capital deployment and developed advanced technologies and equipment, establishing the company as one of the industry’s leading home medical equipment (HME) providers. We believe that, as a pioneer in the HME sector, AdaptHealth will continue to hold a prominent position in the home healthcare market.”

Luke McGee stated, “We aim to continue actively participating in industry consolidation and creating value for the home healthcare market, while delivering the highest level of patient care. Following this listing, I am confident that AdapHealth will have even broader prospects for development.”

(Compiled by Xu Xiaoxue)