Chad D. Ehrenkranz
Overview
Chad D. Ehrenkranz is a corporate partner in the New York office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Chad’s focus is on healthcare transactional, regulatory and enforcement matters, frequently on behalf of private equity sponsors and their portfolio companies. He regularly represents healthcare clients in structuring and negotiating mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, affiliations, compliance matters and investigations, employment and consulting arrangements, and contractual, corporate, regulatory, real estate and risk management healthcare legal issues.
Chad is regularly called upon as special regulatory counsel in connection with major acquisitions of healthcare service platforms undertaken by private equity and strategic acquirers. He has also developed and implemented HIPAA policies and procedures as well as various compliance programs for a variety of clients throughout the healthcare space.
Chad engages and provides legal counsel to private equity funds, venture capital, emerging growth companies, strategic investors, hospitals, management companies, ambulatory surgery centers, anesthesia providers, long-term acute care hospitals, urgent care centers, revenue cycle management companies, behavioral health platforms, hyperbaric and wound care management platforms, free standing emergency rooms, diagnostic imaging facilities, skilled nursing facilities, home health agencies, assisted living facilities, durable medical equipment companies, medical supply companies, insurance companies, telemedicine platforms, physician practices and dentists.
Chad regularly counsels clients on the corporate practice of medicine and professionals, state and federal fraud and abuse laws, which includes but is not limited to, Stark Law, Anti-Kickback Statute, False Claims Act, state anti-referral and anti-kickback laws and related regulatory issues. Chad is experienced in federal and state healthcare regulatory and licensure, enrollment and reimbursement matters. Chad also provides healthcare regulatory guidance to numerous insurers. Chad actively represents clients on a national and international basis.
Chad was recognized in Chambers USA for his transactional work in Healthcare, where clients commented "[Chad] is very intellectually sharp; in really complex issues, he drills down to the problem." In the 2022 edition of Chambers USA, clients noted, "Chad is fabulous. He is extremely knowledgeable, knows the industry and is always there to help.”Experience
Representative Matters
Since joining Kirkland, Chad has been involved in the following matters:
- Cressey & Company in its acquisition of The InterMed Group
- Bain Capital in its investment and strategic partnership in CitiusTech
- Oak Street Health in its senior secured financing facility for Oak Street Health and certain of its subsidiaries
- Seattle Reproductive Medicine, a leading fertility medicine practice based in Seattle, in its joining of the Pinnacle Fertility network
- Sun Capital Partners and its portfolio company, WestDerm, in WestDerm’s merger with Platinum Dermatology Partners
- EW Healthcare Partners in its pending $177 million acquisition of TherapeuticsMD (NASDAQ: TXMD), a women's healthcare company
- Envista Holdings Corporation (NYSE: NVST) in its acquisition of Osteogenics Biomedical
- PathGroup in its majority investment from GTCR
- Stone Point Capital in its $2 billion acquisition of Tivity Health
- Capsule Technologies in its $635 million sale to Royal Philips
- Owens & Minor, Inc. on its $1.6 billion acquisition of Apria, Inc.
- Novo Holdings in its acquisition of Medical Knowledge Group from Court Square Capital and Aisling Capital
- Spark Orthodontics, a portfolio company of Rock Mountain Capital, in its acquisition of Children’s Dental Management
- Vera Whole Health, a portfolio company of Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, in its combination with Castlight Health
- Envista Holdings Corporation on its definitive agreement to acquire Carestream Dental’s intra-oral scanners business
- RiverGlade Capital in its sale of U.S. Oral Surgery Management to Oak Hill Capital
- HGGC in its $240 million joint investment in Fullscript with Snapdragon Capital Partners
- BayPine on its acquisition of Pinnacle Dermatology
- Cressey & Company LP and its portfolio company, HHAeXchange, in an investment in HHAeXchange from Hg
- Vitruvian Partners on its acquisition of a majority interest in the Fotona Group
- Bansk Group in its acquisition of Arcadia Consumer Healthcare
- Clayton, Dubilier & Rice in its acquisition of Vera Whole Health
- Windjammer Capital Investors and Vital Records Control in the formation of a Continuation Fund
- Thoma Bravo on its strategic growth investment in Greenphire from The Riverside Company
- KKR on its investment in Charter Next Generation
- Rock Mountain Capital, L.P. in the recapitalization of Spark Orthodontics
- Vitruvian Partners in its acquisition of a majority stake in KCAS Bioanalytical and Biomarker Services
- Danaher Corporation in its strategic investment in Andelyn Biosciences
- KORE Wireless Group in its merger with Cerberus Telecom Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) sponsored by an affiliate of Cerberus Capital Management
- Warburg Pincus in its investment in Quantum Health
- Sun Capital Partners in its sale of ClearChoice to Aspen Dental
- Jaws Acquisition Corporation, a special purpose acquisition company sponsored by Barry Sternlicht, in its $4.4 billion business combination with Cano Health
- Oaktree Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) sponsored by an affiliate of Oaktree Capital Management, in its $1.6 billion business combination with Hims, Inc.
- Accel-KKR in its acquisition of Forcura, a healthcare technology company
- Hellman & Friedman and its portfolio company, MultiPlan, Inc., in MultiPlan’s $11 billion business combination with Churchill Capital Corp. III
- Madison Dearborn Partners, LLC in its acquisition of Benefytt Technologies, Inc.
- TA Associates and Francisco Partners in their significant growth investment in Edifecs, Inc.
- Francisco Partners and its portfolio company eSolutions in its sale of eSolutions to Waystar
- Madison Dearborn Partners and Kaufman, Hall & Associates in Kaufman Hall’s acquisition of Change Healthcare’s Connected Analytics business
- FTV Capital in its acquisition of 6 Degrees Health, a developer of healthcare reimbursement technology
- Accenture in its acquisition of Creative Drive
- One Equity Partners in its acquisition of American Medical Technologies
- Paragon Healthcare Inc. in its sale to Peak Rock Capital LLC
- Radiology Partners on its $885 million acquisition of MEDNAX Radiology Solutions
- Colfax Corporation in its $3.15 billion acquisition of DJO Global Inc.
- Paragon Bioservices, Inc. in its $1.2 billion sale to Catalent Inc.
- Windjammer Capital in its acquisition of Hilco Vision
- FastMed Holdings I, LLC and certain of its affiliates (“FastMed”) in their deleveraging transaction. FastMed is a privately owned operator of over 100 urgent care clinics in Arizona, North Carolina, and Texas. The transaction resulted in the consensual equitization of approximately $80 million in funded debt and the paydown of approximately $148 million in secured debt
- Abry Partners in its acquisition of Anju Software, a Phoenix-based provider of software and data services to the life science industry
- Abry Partners in its recapitalization with Sermo a leading global social platform for physicians and largest healthcare professional survey company
- Accenture in its acquisition of Knowledgent, a data intelligence company
- Arizona Cardiovascular Institute; Center for Cardiovascular Research and Education (multiple entity transaction). Sale of majority interests in Arizona Cardiovascular Institute and Center for Cardiovascular Research and Education to a subsidiary of Fresenius
- Healthgrades, Inc., a Vestar portfolio company, in its acquisition of Influence Health
- The Jordan Company (TJC) in its acquisition of Vyne, a market leader in secure health information exchange and electronic healthcare communication management
- AssuredPartners in its acquisition of Tolman & Wiker Insurance Services, LLC of Ventura, California
- Golden Gate Capital in its acquisition of RVL Holdings, LLC
- Starr Principal Holdings, LLC (Starr Investment Holdings) in its minority investment in Radiology Partners Holdings
- Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV) in its investment in Rave Mobile Safety (Rave)
- Lithium Technologies LLC (aka Khoros), a Vista Equity Partners portfolio company, in its merger with Spredfast Inc., a provider of digital customer engagement solutions
- Francisco Partners in its acquisition of Qualcomm Life
- Cressey & Company in its investment in HHAeXchange
- Capsule Technologies in its acquisition of Bernoulli Health
- Kinderhook Industries-backed GlobalHealth in its partnership with Evolent Health to form True Health
- PathGroup in its acquisition of Pathologists Bio-Medical Laboratories
- Sun Capital Partners in its acquisition of Simply Beautiful Smiles
- Nordic Capital in its acquisition of Orchid Orthopedic Solutions
- TA Associates in its investment in Behavioral Health Works
- Family Allergy & Asthma, a Prairie Capital portfolio company, in its acquisition of Kentuckiana Allergy, Louisville Allergy & Asthma, and Alleviate Allergy and Asthma
- Specialty Retail Shops Holding Corp. and its subsidiaries (“Shopko”) in their Chapter 11 cases in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Nebraska
- TA Associates in its investment, alongside GI Partners, in Netsmart Technologies, Inc.
- Civitas Solutions in its sale to Centerbridge Partners
- RiverGlade Capital in its partnership with Kids Care Dental & Orthodontics
Prior to joining Kirkland, Chad was involved in the following matters:
- DentaQuest in its acquisition and development of numerous dental services organizations and dental insurance platforms throughout the U.S.
- ICV Partner’s acquisition of Outpatient Imaging Affiliates
- ICV Partner’s healthcare related restructuring
- Audax Group’s acquisition of Gastro Health
- Adeptus, Inc (NYSE: ADPT), an owner and operator of free standing emergency room facilities and hospital facilities in connection with the acquisition, development and JV formation of University of Colorado General Hospital
- Fulcrum Equity Partners acquisition and restructure of GWPC platform
- The Center for Wound Healing & Hyperbaric Medicine LLC and NexGen Hyperbaric LLC in numerous joint ventures in the hyperbaric and wound care management space in multiple states
- Premier Oral Surgery in its development and add-on’s to its oral surgery/dental services platform
- Sterling Partners in connection with the leveraged acquisition of Grand Rapids Ophthalmology, and the creation of a related management services organization platform
- Grand Rapids Ophthalmology in its acquisition of ambulatory surgery centers
- RiverGlade Capital in connection with the structuring and formation of US Oral Surgery Management, LLC, a platform focused on the oral surgery sector, and the related acquisitions of multiple integrated oral surgery clinics
- Constellation Healthcare Technologies (Orion) in its bankruptcy and restructuring
- Baird Capital Partners acquisition of ReMed Recovery Care Centers
- The CORE Institute Center for Orthopedic Research and Education joint venture with Banner Health
- CICC in its reorganization and development of a multidisciplinary physician practice as well as ambulatory surgery centers and outpatient laboratories in multiple states
- Ascentist reorganization and syndication of multi-state ambulatory surgery centers
- Ascentist ambulatory surgery center joint venture with HealthCrest Management
- Discover Surgical Center development of Arizona ambulatory surgery center and office based laboratory
- North Dakota Surgery Center sale of majority interests to Surgery Partners
- Arizona Heart Health Center in its development of a multispecialty physician practice as well syndication and development of numerous ambulatory surgery centers and office based laboratories throughout the state of Arizona
- PokitDok acquisition of Employers Collective
- Greater Philadelphia Health Action in its acquisition of multiple pharmacies
- Akumin in its acquisition of Preferred Imaging
- 360 PT Management sale to Celerity Partners
Prior Experience
More
Thought Leadership
Publications
Co-Author, "21st Century Cures Act offers array of holiday gifts to healthcare providers," December 20, 2016
Author, "Corporate Practice of Dentistry Prohibitions Have Teeth," Health Law 360, December 14, 2015
Co-Author, "Lessons From Intermountain's Stark Law Settlement," Health Law 360, April 12, 2013
Author, "Dental Regulations Have Teeth: Why Dentists and Dental Management Companies Need Dental Healthcare Attorneys," New Jersey Law Journal, November 28, 2011
Author, "One Hand Giveth and the Other Hand Keepeth," New Jersey Law Journal, March 22, 2010
Author, "2007 Pace Law School I.C.C. Moot Competition 'Best Brief' Defense," 20 Pace Int'l L. Rev. 2, 2009
Note, "Can a Bank Have its Cake and Eat it Too? Why Watters v. Wachovia Wrongly Infers Preemption of State Consumer Protection Laws," 16 University of Miami Business Law Review 139, 2008
Presentations and Seminars
Speaker, "Liability in Healthcare Fraud & Abuse: Considerations for PE Sponsors and Their Portfolio Companies," The Healthcare Services Investment Conference, August 2022
Speaker, "Emergent Issues in Healthcare," Kirkland Seminar, January 2021
Speaker, "Private Equity in Healthcare: Why, Structure, Trends and What to Look For," ABA Health Law Section, January 2020
Moderator, “CT Health Financial Management Association 2019 Annual Meeting, CFO Panel,” 2019
Interview, "Hiring a New Physician to a Healthcare Practice," The Ambulatory M&A Advisor, February 24, 2017
Speaker, "The Life Cycle of Dental Practice Groups from Buy-In to Buy-Out and Beyond Employment Agreements," Various Independent Dental Practice Groups, 2012
Speaker, "Regarding Employment and Partnership Agreements," New Jersey Association of Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons Conference, November 19, 2011
Recognition
"Healthcare Trailblazer," The National Law Journal, 2021
Healthcare - New York, Chambers USA, 2020–2022
Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Top Lawyers of South Florida 40 under 40
Super Lawyers magazine, Florida Super Lawyers, "Rising Star" 2016–2018
Top Lawyers of Florida, "Rising Star" 2016–2018
Super Lawyers magazine, New Jersey Super Lawyers, "Rising Star" 2013
Memberships & Affiliations
Boys Hope Girls Hope Coronavirus Task Force
Greater Miami Jewish Federation, Table Captain and host, "Main Event"
The Children's Bereavement Center, Miami, Florida
Baptist Health Foundation
American Heart Association's 2017 Long Island Golf & Tennis Classic
Head Coach, Miami Marlins Youth Baseball, Miami Beach Youth Baseball League (2018)
Credentials
Admissions & Qualifications
- New York
- New Jersey
- Florida
- District of Columbia
Education
- University of Miami School of LawJ.D.cum laude
Articles and Comments Editor, University of Miami School of Law Review
"Best Brief" and "Top Oralist" (Defense), Pace International Moot Court Competition
Book Awards and Dean's Certificates, Administrative Law and International Criminal Moot Court
- New York University College of Arts & ScienceB.A., Politicswith Honors
Pi Sigma Alpha
Recipient of NYU Services Award