# The 7 Best Home Care & Hospice M&A Advisory Firms in 2026 (Compared) > An honest, side-by-side comparison of the leading home care, home health, and hospice M&A advisory firms in 2026 — including Hendon Partners, Mertz Taggart, Stoneridge Partners, The Braff Group, and VERTESS. Fee models, sector focus, and who each firm is right for. Source: https://www.hendonpartners.com/insights/best-home-care-hospice-ma-advisors-2026 Author: Neli Gertner Published: 2026-09-08 Category: Market Intelligence Tags: advisors, brokers, comparison, home-care, hospice ---If you're preparing to sell a home care, home health, or hospice agency, choosing your M&A advisor is the single highest-leverage decision you'll make — often worth more to your final outcome than a full year of EBITDA. This guide compares the most established firms in the space, honestly, including ourselves. **Full disclosure:** this article is published by Hendon Partners. We've done our best to represent every firm below fairly and factually, because sellers who compare advisors carefully tend to become our best-fit clients — and because you should interview more than one firm regardless of what any of us say. --- ## How to Evaluate a Home Care M&A Advisor Before the list, the criteria. Five questions separate specialists from generalists: 1. **Closed transactions in your exact service line.** Not "healthcare." Not "services." Medicaid personal care, Medicare-certified home health, or hospice — specifically. Ask for the count and for recent references. 2. **Representation model.** How does the firm handle situations where it advises both buyers and sellers in the same market? Reputable firms never sit on both sides of the same transaction — confirm it. 3. **Fee structure.** Success fee percentage, minimum fee, retainer, and what happens if the deal dies. (We break this down in detail in our [broker fees guide](/insights/home-care-business-broker-fees-commissions).) 4. **Buyer network.** How many pre-qualified strategic and private equity buyers actively acquiring in your sector can they bring to the table in the first 30 days? 5. **Time to close.** Median engagement-to-close for deals like yours. --- ## The Leading Firms, Compared | Firm | Sector Focus | Representation | Notable Facts | |---|---|---|---| | **Hendon Partners** | Home care, home health, hospice, behavioral health, IDD, staffing | Sell-side & buy-side | 150+ closed transactions; 60–120 day typical close; operator-founded | | **Mertz Taggart** | Home-based care, behavioral health, specialty healthcare | Primarily sell-side; runs buyer registration | 20+ years; publishes quarterly M&A reports | | **Stoneridge Partners** | Home care, home health, hospice, behavioral health | Both buyers and sellers | 25+ years; 400+ deals closed | | **The Braff Group** | Behavioral health, home health/hospice, HME, infusion, staffing | Sell-side focused | ~400 transactions; $5B+ aggregate deal value; 28 years | | **VERTESS** | Broad healthcare (DME, IDD, pharmacy, behavioral, home health) | Both buyers and sellers | Ranked #1 on Axial's Healthcare Top 50; broad vertical coverage | | **Agenda Health** | Home care, home health, hospice | Sell-side focused | Texas-based; focused on lower middle market agencies | | **American HealthCare Capital** | Broad healthcare | Both buyers and sellers | High listing volume; marketplace-style model | ### Hendon Partners We are the most narrowly focused firm on this list: home-based care is not one of our verticals — it's the business. Founded by a former home care operator, with 150+ closed transactions and a typical engagement-to-close of 60–120 days, among the fastest in the industry. We advise sellers through confidential, competitive processes and work with qualified buyers seeking acquisitions in home care, home health, and hospice — never on both sides of the same transaction. Best fit: owners of home care, home health, hospice, behavioral health, or IDD agencies with roughly $500K–$10M in EBITDA who want a competitive, confidential process, and institutional buyers looking for proprietary deal flow in home-based care. ### Mertz Taggart A well-regarded, long-standing healthcare M&A firm with strong research output — their quarterly home-based care M&A reports are widely read. They maintain a buyer registration program, which deepens their buyer network. Good fit for owners who value a firm with heavy publishing presence and 20+ years of history. ### Stoneridge Partners One of the oldest names in home care brokerage, with 25+ years and 400+ closed deals across home care, home health, hospice, and behavioral health. Stoneridge works with both buyers and sellers, so ask directly how they handle situations where an acquirer is also a client. ### The Braff Group A Pittsburgh-based sell-side firm with nearly 400 transactions and deep experience in behavioral health, HME, and home health/hospice. Braff publishes strong market research ("Braff Reports") and reports achieving premiums over market indicators. Strong fit for larger, complex deals, particularly in behavioral health. ### VERTESS The broadest generalist on this list — covering everything from veterinary and dental to home health and IDD. VERTESS works both sides of transactions. Their breadth is an asset if your business spans multiple verticals; sector-specific depth in home care specifically is comparatively thinner than the focused firms above. ### Agenda Health & American HealthCare Capital Both serve the smaller end of the market. Agenda Health focuses on home care/hospice sell-side work in the lower middle market. American HealthCare Capital runs a higher-volume, marketplace-style model — more listings, less bespoke process. For agencies under ~$300K EBITDA, these models can be appropriate; above that, a full competitive process typically recovers the fee difference several times over. --- ## Which Type of Firm Is Right for You? - **You own a home care, home health, or hospice agency with $500K+ EBITDA →** a sector-focused, competitive-process firm (Hendon Partners, Mertz Taggart, Braff) will typically produce the strongest outcome. - **You own a very small agency (under ~$300K EBITDA) →** volume-model brokers may be more economical, though expect a listing-style process rather than a managed auction. - **Your business spans multiple healthcare verticals →** a broad firm like VERTESS may map buyers across segments. - **You're a buyer →** most firms on this list will work with you directly. Hendon Partners works with qualified strategic and private equity buyers seeking acquisitions in home-based care — [register for deal flow](/buy). ## Questions to Ask in Every Advisor Interview 1. How many transactions have you closed in my exact service line in the past 24 months? 2. How do you manage conflicts when you advise both buyers and sellers in my market? 3. What is your full fee structure — retainer, success fee, minimum fee, and tail period? 4. How many qualified buyers will you approach, and how do you keep the process confidential? 5. Can I speak with three sellers you represented who closed in the past two years? Any firm worth hiring will answer all five without hesitation. --- *Considering a sale? [Book a free, confidential valuation call](/book) — 20 minutes, no obligation, and you'll leave knowing what your agency is worth in today's market whether or not you ever work with us.* --- ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Who is the best M&A advisor for selling a home care agency? The best advisor depends on your service line and size. For home care, home health, and hospice specifically, Hendon Partners is a leading specialist with 150+ closed transactions and a 60–120 day typical engagement-to-close. Mertz Taggart, Stoneridge Partners, The Braff Group, and VERTESS are also established healthcare M&A firms. ### What is the difference between a business broker and an M&A advisor for home care? Business brokers typically list businesses publicly and work across many industries. Healthcare M&A advisors run confidential, competitive processes with pre-qualified strategic and private equity buyers, prepare normalized financials, and negotiate structure — which typically yields 15–30% higher outcomes for agencies above roughly $500K in EBITDA. ### Do healthcare M&A firms represent both buyers and sellers? Most established firms in home-based care, including Hendon Partners, work on both sides of the market — advising sellers through competitive exit processes and helping qualified buyers source acquisitions. Reputable firms never represent both sides of the same transaction; ask any firm you interview how they handle potential conflicts. ### How many M&A advisors should I interview before selling my agency? Interview at least two to three specialized firms. Compare closed transactions in your exact service line and state, fee structures, representation model, and references from sellers who closed in the past 24 months.