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Is BrightSpring Health Services Owned by Private Equity?

Yes — BrightSpring Health Services is owned by KKR, which acquired it in 2019.

PRIVATE EQUITY OWNED

BrightSpring Health Services

Includes BrightSpring, ResCare, PharMerica

disability care · Louisville, KY

PE Firm
KKR →
Year Acquired
2019

KKR bought 600+ group homes for people with disabilities. A Senate investigation and BuzzFeed reporting tied some homes to resident abuse, neglect, and deaths.

What They Did

  1. KKR acquired BrightSpring for $1.3 billion in 2019, becoming the owner of more than 600 residential facilities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. It has since taken the company public and sold down its stake, to about 13.6% after a June 2026 share sale, according to its SEC filing
  2. Despite worsening conditions, KKR focused on expanding the business while the CEO doubled his salary to $1.6 million — meanwhile, caretaker wages were kept below Walmart levels
  3. West Virginia ordered BrightSpring to stop accepting new residents and eventually shut down 20% of its homes in the state after state investigators found at least one preventable death caused by neglect
  4. In the seven states with the most for-profit group homes, KKR owns just 16% of the facilities but racked up 40% of all serious regulatory citations

Since the Acquisition

  • According to a BuzzFeed News investigation, an autistic resident choked to death eating unsupervised because the home was too short-staffed to monitor him, and a caretaker called a supervisor instead of 911 and help came too late
  • The same BuzzFeed investigation found a 45-year-old woman restrained with her own bedding, unable to move or cry for help, who died from her injuries twelve days later
  • Nurses and caretakers quit in droves as wages were slashed; some managers forced employees to work three-day shifts or threatened to have them arrested if they tried to leave
  • Four U.S. Senators publicly condemned KKR for 'grossly substandard care and unsafe living conditions' in a formal letter to the firm

Sources

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What people ask

Is BrightSpring Health Services owned by private equity?

Yes. BrightSpring Health Services is currently owned by KKR, which acquired it in 2019. KKR bought 600+ group homes for people with disabilities. A Senate investigation and BuzzFeed reporting tied some homes to resident abuse, neglect, and deaths.

What happened to BrightSpring Health Services after the acquisition?

According to a BuzzFeed News investigation, an autistic resident choked to death eating unsupervised because the home was too short-staffed to monitor him, and a caretaker called a supervisor instead of 911 and help came too late. The same BuzzFeed investigation found a 45-year-old woman restrained with her own bedding, unable to move or cry for help, who died from her injuries twelve days later.

Who owns BrightSpring Health Services?

BrightSpring Health Services is owned by KKR, which acquired it in 2019.

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