BOSTON and PROVIDENCE, March 9, 2015 – Advent International and Nautic Partners today announced that they have entered into an agreement whereby Advent will make a strategic investment in Genoa, a QoL Healthcare Company (“Genoa”), the leading behavioral health specialty pharmacy company in the US. Existing institutional investors, including Nautic, and the current Genoa management team will retain ownership positions in the company.

Advent and Nautic will work closely together to support Genoa’s management team as they continue to enhance the company’s service offering and expand its geographic footprint. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and other customary closing conditions and is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2015. Financial terms were not disclosed.

“We are pleased to welcome Advent as our new investment partner,” said John Figueroa, chief executive officer of Genoa. “Advent has a great deal of expertise assisting healthcare services companies, and we look forward to its contributions as we continue to serve the needs of community mental health centers and the millions of people coping with behavioral health issues.”

Genoa operates more than 240 on-site, full-service pharmacies in 35 states and the District of Columbia, serving more than 300,000 patients annually. The pharmacies are located within behavioral health centers—including community mental health centers, psychiatric clinics and federally qualified health centers—which provide specialized mental health services in an outpatient setting.

Studies estimate that there are more than 50 million adults with mental illness in the United States, and less than half of these people are currently receiving treatment.  Non-adherence to medications continues to be a major impediment to the effective treatment of individuals suffering with mental illness. Genoa believes that its on-site pharmacies add convenience and facilitate focused consultation, offering a compelling value proposition for patients, clinicians and payors as they improve medication compliance and lower the total cost of care.

Genoa was formed through the Nautic-led merger in July 2014 of Genoa Healthcare and QoL meds. Nautic invested in QoL meds in December 2013.

As part of the transaction, Advent Operating Partner Douglas Present will continue as chairman of Genoa. Advent’s Operating Partners serve as independent advisors to Advent and its portfolio companies and are a long-established element of the firm’s highly-operational approach to investing.

Advent International has been investing in the healthcare industry for 24 years and has completed over 30 investments in the sector worldwide. Recent global investments in the pharmaceutical services sector include, Mediq, Biotoscana, Laboratorio LKM and a significant follow-on investment in Biotoscana to help fund its acquisition of United Medical.