H.I.G. Growth Partners ("H.I.G."), the dedicated growth capital investment affiliate of H.I.G. Capital, has announced that one of its affiliates has completed a strategic investment in Sage Hospice ("Sage" or the "Company"), a leading provider of hospice and palliative care services to patients in the Phoenix, AZ market. Sage will serve as the platform to build a leading regional provider of hospice and palliative care services. To execute on this strategy, H.I.G. is partnering with two experienced hospice industry executives, Glen Cavallo and Jeff Lang. Glen Cavallo, who will join Sage's board of directors at closing, has over 25 years of experience in the hospice and home care sectors. Jeff Lang, who became Sage's CEO at closing, has over 18 years of leadership experience at large hospice organizations.

Headquartered in Phoenix, AZ, Sage is the third largest hospice provider (and largest for-profit hospice provider) in the Phoenix Metropolitan area. Sage has been able to grow rapidly by focusing on providing a level of care that goes above and beyond what is typical within the industry, with 24/7 on-call services, lower patient to provider ratios, and better education and communication with the patient's family. Sage also runs a successful palliative care program that, together with its hospice program, provides a best-in-class continuum of care for end of life clinical support and treatment.


Founder Tiana Zang said, "We are delighted to partner with Jeff and H.I.G. to execute Sage's next phase of growth. They share our vision to provide compassionate, comprehensive and quality care to people with life limiting illnesses and bring a successful track record of working with multi-site healthcare service companies."

Jeff Lang commented, "Tiana and her team at Sage have built a strong platform with an excellent reputation in its community. I look forward to working with the Sage team to build upon its legacy as the Company expands into new markets."
Mark Tricolli, a Managing Director with H.I.G., added, "We are very excited to partner with Tiana and her dedicated team at Sage. The Company has an excellent reputation for providing high quality care and we look forward to working with the Sage team to capitalize on its many future growth opportunities."

About Sage
Sage is a leading provider of hospice and palliative care services to patients in the Phoenix, AZ metro area. Sage focuses on providing a level of care that goes above and beyond what is typical within the industry, with 24/7 on-call services, lower patient to provider ratios, and better education and communication with the patient's family. Sage's mission is to provide the absolute most compassionate, comprehensive, and qualified care to people with life limiting illnesses in order to serve them through their individual journey with dignity, respect and integrity.

For more information, please refer to the Sage website at www.sagehospice.org.


About H.I.G. Growth Partners
H.I.G. Growth Partners is the dedicated growth capital investment affiliate of H.I.G. Capital, a leading global private equity investment firm with more than $25 billion of equity capital under management. We seek to make both majority and minority investments in strong, growth oriented businesses located throughout North America, South America and Europe. We will invest $5 million to $30 million in equity in a given company and target investments in profitable growth oriented businesses with between $10 million and $100 million in revenues. We consider investments across all industries, but focus on certain high-growth sectors where H.I.G. has extensive in-house expertise such as technology, healthcare, internet and media, consumer products and technology-enabled financial and business services. Growth Partners strives to work closely with our management teams to serve as an experienced resource, providing broad-based strategic, operational, recruiting, and financial management services from a vast in-house team and a substantial network of third-party relationships. For more information, please refer to the H.I.G. website at www.HIGgrowth.com.