Healthcare-focused lower middle market private equity firm

Thurston Group

At a glance

Latest fundThurston Fund III, $211M (Jul 2025) S5
EBITDA range$1M to $10M S3
Deal typesPlatform, Add-on S3
SectorsHealthcare Services, Dental, IT Services & MSP

What Thurston Group buys

Thurston Group is a Chicago private equity firm that invests only in healthcare. Patrick J. Haynes III started it in 1986 as an advisory firm, and it says it has returned more than $4 billion of invested capital since then. It backs founder-owned and physician-led businesses in fragmented parts of healthcare and builds them into multi-site platforms. Its current companies cover dental support organizations, behavioral health, medical aesthetics, orthopedics, medical weight loss, clinical research sites and, since August 2026, healthcare IT consulting and managed services through Pixel Health.

The firm looks for profitable, growing companies with $1 million to $10 million of EBITDA, and will go smaller for add-ons. It takes majority stakes alongside owners and management, and the money goes to ownership transitions, management buyouts, new locations and add-on acquisitions. Its third fund closed at $211 million in July 2025. Many smaller practices meet Thurston by joining one of its platforms, as a string of medspas has done with Alpha Aesthetics Partners.

Recent deals

Announced in the 24 months before October 20, 2026.

DateCompanyTypeSectorSource
Aug 2026Pixel HealthIT consulting and managed IT services provider to hospitals and large physician groups; Thurston's first deal in healthcare IT servicesPlatformIT Services & MSPSource
Jul 2026The Waverly GroupPediatric therapy and assessment practice in Old Greenwich, Connecticut, added to ARC HealthAdd-onHealthcare ServicesSource
Jun 2026SGA Dental Partners, Gen4 Dental Partners and Modis Dental PartnersThree Thurston dental support platforms combined under the SGA name, covering more than 250 locations in 26 statesInvestmentDentalSource
May 2026Preva AestheticsAesthetics practice in Denver and Encinitas added to Alpha Aesthetics Partners, its first in ColoradoAdd-onHealthcare ServicesSource
May 2026Sensorium Clinical ResearchNew clinical trial site network launched with three research sites in California and FloridaPlatformHealthcare ServicesSource
Mar 2026LexRx and Inject with LexFour-location Massachusetts aesthetics practice added to Alpha Aesthetics PartnersAdd-onHealthcare ServicesSource
Dec 2025Privé Med SpaKentucky medical aesthetics practice added to Alpha Aesthetics PartnersAdd-onHealthcare ServicesSource
Aug 2025Blossom MedicalWinchester, Virginia aesthetics practice joined Alpha's Refined Aesthetics groupAdd-onHealthcare ServicesSource
Jul 2025Thurston Fund IIIFinal close at its $211 million hard cap, the firm's largest fund so farFund closeSource
Mar 2025Mint & NeedleDelaware aesthetics practice added to Alpha Aesthetics PartnersAdd-onHealthcare ServicesSource
Jan 2025Flawless Medspa & WellnessAlbuquerque, New Mexico medspa added to Alpha Aesthetics PartnersAdd-onHealthcare ServicesSource
Jan 2025Inbloom Health + MedispaLondonderry, New Hampshire medspa added to Alpha Aesthetics PartnersAdd-onHealthcare ServicesSource
Dec 2024Carolina Age Management InstituteAesthetic medicine practice in Greensboro and Huntersville, North Carolina, added to Alpha Aesthetics PartnersAdd-onHealthcare ServicesSource

Portfolio by sector

From the firm's portfolio page S4.

Healthcare

  • Pixel Health
  • Sensorium Clinical Research
  • Modis Dental Partners
  • Alpha Aesthetics Partners
  • Options Medical Weight Loss
  • ARC Health
  • Gen4 Dental Partners
  • U.S. Orthopaedic Partners
  • SGA Dental Partners

Real Estate

  • US Veterinary REIT
  • National Dental Healthcare REIT

Past investments: U.S. Endo Partners, U.S. Oral Surgery Management, Smile Doctors, Pinnacle Dental, E78 Partners, Healthport, BSG, InvenGen, American Communications Services

Greymont’s take

How Thurston Group fits a seller

Thurston suits owners of healthcare practices and healthcare service businesses who are ready to sell a majority stake to a firm that has built many multi-site groups. For a single practice, a sale usually means joining an existing platform such as SGA Dental Partners, ARC Health or Alpha Aesthetics Partners, and the platforms' own announcements show founding clinicians staying on to lead their practices. A larger company can become a new platform, as Pixel Health and Sensorium did in 2026.

Thurston builds platforms to sell them later. It exited U.S. Endodontics Partners and U.S. Oral Surgery Management in 2021, so an owner who keeps a stake should expect a second sale down the road. Ask how much of the price comes as cash versus equity rolled into the platform, and how clinical decisions stay with clinicians after closing. An IT services owner should ask what kinds of add-ons Pixel Health wants to buy.

Questions owners ask

Does Thurston Group invest outside healthcare?

Not today. It calls itself a healthcare-focused firm, and every current platform is in healthcare. Its older, already sold holdings included business services and telecom companies such as E78 Partners and American Communications Services.

What size company does Thurston look for?

Its investment criteria call for $1 million to $10 million of EBITDA, with smaller companies considered as add-ons. It also wants a record of profits and growth, a defensible market position, and owners and managers who stay invested alongside it.

Does Thurston buy IT services or managed service providers?

Within healthcare, yes. In August 2026 it partnered with Pixel Health, which provides IT consulting and managed IT services to hospitals and large physician groups, and said it plans to build Pixel into a larger healthcare IT services platform.

How large is Thurston's current fund?

Thurston Fund III held its final close in July 2025 at a $211 million hard cap, more than 60 percent above Fund II. The firm said it would keep making control investments in healthcare alongside founder-owners.

Sources

  1. S1Thurston Group home page Accessed October 20, 2026
  2. S2Thurston Group: About Us Accessed October 20, 2026
  3. S3Thurston Group: Our Strategy (investment criteria) Accessed October 20, 2026
  4. S4Thurston Group: Our Portfolio Accessed October 20, 2026
  5. S5Thurston Group Closes Oversubscribed Fund III at $211 Million Hard Cap (July 16, 2025) Accessed October 20, 2026
  6. S6Thurston Group Partners with Pixel Health (August 26, 2026) Accessed October 20, 2026
  7. S7Thurston Group Unites SGA, Gen4, and Modis Under the SGA Dental Partners Banner (June 16, 2026) Accessed October 20, 2026
  8. S8Thurston Group press releases on PR Newswire (includes 2021 exits of U.S. Endodontics Partners and U.S. Oral Surgery Management) Accessed October 20, 2026
  9. S9Alpha Aesthetics Partners press releases on PR Newswire Accessed October 20, 2026

Compiled by Greymont Advisors from public sources, including the firm’s own website and press releases. Greymont is not affiliated with Thurston Group. Figures are as reported on the dates shown and may have changed. Request a correction

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