The Stepping Stones Group, a provider of therapy and education solutions to children with special needs and autism in educational settings, today announced the acquisition and recapitalization of Cobb Pediatric Therapy Services, a provider of speech language pathology, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and school psychology services to school districts in the Southeastern United States. Stepping Stones is a portfolio company of Five Arrows Capital Partners, the North American corporate private equity business of Rothschild Merchant Banking. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Cobb Pediatric is headquartered in Cobb County, Georgia and serves schools throughout the Southeast. The company was founded in 1989 by CEO June Whitehead, a speech pathologist by training. Cobb Pediatric has been recognized as a top work place for the past six years including by The Atlanta Journal Constitution in 2017.

“We’re excited to announce the acquisition of Cobb Pediatric, an established company that has earned a great reputation among its customers and employees over the past 29 years,” said Anthony Rintala, Chief Executive Officer of The Stepping Stones Group. “June has built a strong business while doing tremendous, impactful work in the communities in which they operate. We’re pleased that Mark Norris, Cobb Pediatric’s President, will be continuing with us once the transaction closes as his deep experience will ensure that we can continue to build on Cobb Pediatric’s success and further expand The Stepping Stones Group’s footprint of qualified therapists across the country.”

Stepping Stones provides services to over 300 school districts and 42,000 children across more than 20 states in the U.S. The acquisition of Cobb Pediatric will further expand the company’s footprint to now span more than 25 states.

Ms. Whitehead added, “With Stepping Stones’ reach and expertise, Cobb Pediatric will now be part of a larger platform to empower even more schools and more therapists to help children with special needs reach their potential and lead fulfilling lives. I am thrilled that Mark will stay with the company and can’t wait to see what the future holds for The Stepping Stones Group.”

Stepping Stones has completed two previous add-on acquisitions in the past two years, acquiring AlphaVista Services in June 2016 and Staffing Options & Solutions in June 2017 to accelerate growth and gain access to new geographies across the U.S. Each operating division has retained its unique brand identity but operates under The Stepping Stones Group platform. Today, the Company’s offering suite includes Speech Language Pathology (SLP) and Occupational Therapy (OT) services with an increasing focus on School Psychology, Special Education Teaching, and Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA).

About The Stepping Stones Group

The Stepping Stones Group is a provider of therapeutic behavioral health services to a variety of public school districts and private learning centers. The company employs therapists in more than 20 states throughout the U.S. For more information about the company, please visit: http://thesteppingstonesgroup.com/

About Cobb Pediatric Therapy Services

Founded in 1989, Cobb Pediatric Therapy Services has been providing a range of therapy services for children, including speech language pathology, occupational therapy, physical therapy and school psychology to school systems across the United States for 29 years. The firm currently serves school districts in 10 states across the Southeast. For more information on Cobb Pediatric Therapy Services, please visit: http://www.cobbpediatric.com.

About Five Arrows Capital Partners

Five Arrows Capital Partners is the North American corporate private equity business of Rothschild Merchant Banking (RMB), the investment arm of Rothschild & Co. With offices in London, Paris, Luxembourg, New York and Los Angeles, RMB has over $9 billion of assets under management. Like RMB’s European corporate private equity business, Five Arrows Capital Partners is focused on investing in middle market companies with highly defensible market positions, business models with a proven history of generating attractive returns on invested capital across economic cycles and multiple untapped levers for value creation. Sector focus of FACP is on healthcare; business services; and data, software & technology-enabled services. For more information, please visit: https://www.rothschild.com/en/merchant-banking/