A group of fourteen senior healthcare executives announced the formation of Guidon Partners. Its founders will work alongside management teams and experienced investors as co-investors in growth companies and management buy-outs.
Guidon Partners was founded by individuals who have started companies, completed turnarounds, taken companies public, and in several cases, sold companies to strategic buyers with larger platforms, creating positive returns for investors. Founders of Guidon Partners:
Joel Ackerman former managing partner, Warburg Pincus
Jim Carlson, former CEO, Amerigroup Corporation
Paul Diaz, CEO, Kindred Healthcare
Fred Dunlap, former CEO, XLHealth
Herb Fritch, president, Cigna-Healthspring
Vicky Gregg, former CEO, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee
Bill Goss, former managing director, Cain Brothers
Bob Margolis, MD, CEO Emeritus, HealthCare Partners
Tim McDonald, former SVP, strategic initiatives, Amerigroup
Tom McDonough, former president, Coventry Health Care
Nick Pace, former general counsel, Amerigroup
Greg Roth, former CEO, Team Health
Greg Scott, former CEO, APS Healthcare
Joe Swedish, president and CEO, Wellpoint
Guidon Partners was launched with the founders’ own capital, and is unaffiliated with any single investment firm. Guidon Partners works with experienced investors to identify, finance and support growth companies as they build new products, expand into new markets, invest in new technology and start making a profit. The Partnership also will co-invest alongside larger private equity firms in company spinoffs, turnarounds and leveraged buyouts.
Every investment comes with the active participation of a Guidon partner and with the involvement of other partners where they can be helpful. The Guidon team brings executive-level operating experience across different sectors of health insurance or health care services including health plans, government programs, employer-sponsored benefit programs, health IT, physicians practice management, acute hospitals and post-acute care. They also have individual track records of launching and building successful companies, closing mergers and acquistions, strategic marketing, engineering turnarounds and integrations, navigating change, forming and optimizing capital, including IPOs, and delivering returns for shareholders.
“Guidon Partners grew out of an initial conversation between three long standing friends,” Jim Carlson, Tom McDonough and Greg Scott. “We quickly agreed that the time has never been more exciting for innovators and that ‘operating know how’ has never been more important.”
Scott said, “As we talked, it became obvious that each of us was getting a steady stream of inquiries about our availability to help PE firms, entrepreneurs and others so we figured out that it would be more logical and enjoyable to do something together.”
“Once we came to that conclusion, McDonough said. “We realized our network of friends and former colleagues represented a cadre of people with great track records, talents and reputations…and that a group could be formed that would be unique successful operators of businesses that could collaborate to help write new success stories.”
Guidon Partners, a hands-on partnership founded by leaders in healthcare services, derives its name from a small, swallow-tailed flag that serves to rally the troops and signifies leadership. Its investment strategy is focused on helping companies who want our expertise and guidance, not just our money. It co-invests alongside venture, growth equity and buy-out funds helping new investments or existing portfolio companies get to the next level of growth and profitability.