We learned earlier this week that Pinnacle Funeral Service, a funeral home owner and operator based in St. Petersburg, Florida, has acquired the Malcore Funeral Home & Crematory as well as Simply Cremation in Green Bay, Wisconsin.  According to a press release, the funeral home was founded in 1921 and has been owned and operated by the Malcore family for several generations.

Again according to the press release, “Between Malcore and Simply Cremation, the businesses serve more than 750 families annually”.

Tony Kumming, President of Pinnacle Funeral Service made this prepared comment in the press release, “Malcore has been a trusted name in Green Bay for more than 100 years. Their early leadership in cremation and their long-standing dedication to families make this a meaningful partnership. . . . “

The press release also states that “Matt Malcore will continue to manage day-to-day operations, ensuring continuity for the families they serve. His wife, Lisa, will remain as a preneed advisor, and both of Matt’s parents will also stay actively involved in the business. . . “

Matt Malcore made this comment in a prepared statement in the press release, “Pinnacle will provide us with the tools we need to be successful. From the beginning, Pinnacle stood out for how they treat people—families, employees, and owners alike. They’re not trying to change who we are; they’re here to support our team and help us grow responsibly while staying true to our mission. . . . ”

According to Wikipedia, the Green Bay SMSA ranks 161st in the USA and has grown at a 1.6% rate from the 2020 Census until 2024.

According to the press release, Pinnacle Funeral Service, along with its partnership with Rollings Funeral Service, is one of the largest and fastest growing privately-owned funeral service operators in the United States with over 100 locations across 20 states.

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Maybe there is something to the ongoing prediction that a whole lot of funeral homes will be changing hands in the next 3 to 5 years.  Barely after we were able to get a press release from Park Lawn Corporation out about a funeral home/cemetery expansion in New Mexico we received this press release announcing the sale of the Wages and Sons Funeral Homes in Georgia to Park Lawn Corporation.

According to the press release which we received on Monday, October 6, 2025:

“Park Lawn Corporation (“Park Lawn“), is pleased to announce that, effective today, it acquired substantially all of the assets of Atlanta Crematory located in Stone Mountain, Georgia; Cremation Society of Georgia located in Atlanta, Georgia; Wages & Sons Funeral Home located in Stone Mountain, Georgia; Wages & Sons Funeral Home Gwinnett Chapel located in Lawrenceville, Georgia; and Wages & Sons Gwinnett Chapel Crematory located in Lawrenceville, Georgia (collectively “Wages“). This transaction strengthens Park Lawn’s presence in the greater Atlanta, Georgia market through the addition of two (2) stand-alone funeral homes as well as a cremation focused provider.”

Jennifer W. Hay, Chief Executive Officer of Park Lawn Corporation made this prepared comment about the transaction in the press release, “We are excited to expand our presence in the State of Georgia through the strategic acquisition of the Wages businesses. For years, these businesses have been trusted pillars in their communities, recognized for their compassionate service and care. We are honored to partner with Jeffrey to carry this legacy forward. We warmly welcome each of the Wages businesses and their esteemed staff into the Park Lawn family, and we look forward to continuing their tradition of excellence in serving the families of the greater Atlanta area.”

Here is the website for the Wages and Sons Funeral Homes & Crematories

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily take:  Just like the title of the hit song, “I’m a Believer” when it comes to the prediction that there will be many funeral homes changing hands in the forseeable future.  Not only are there many current family funeral home owners reaching the age of retirement but many of those firms have no next-of-kin interested in continuing as the next generation in the funeral business.  That lends itself to the eventuality of many funeral homes coming to market and many opportunities for current operators to expand their businesses with a “right-time”, right-facility”, “right-location” acquisition.

I’m guessing we will continue to hear about acquisitions as we move farther into the 4th Quarter of the year.  First of all, it is convention time and many firms like to have the momentum of acqusition announcements rolling into the convention where they get a chance to visit face-to-face with many targets.  Secondly, the process of offer/acceptance, due diligence, and closing takes some time so the firms we hear being acquired at this time of the year were probably companies on the market at the beginning of the year, a time many firms take their firms to the consolidators.

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Johnson Funeral Home Announces Acquisition of Johnson & Brown Funeral Home in Iowa, Louisiana

Lake Charles, LA – Johnson Funeral Home is honored to announce the acquisition of Johnson & Brown Funeral Home, located at 505 US-90 East in Iowa, Louisiana. This partnership, made official on August 21, 2025, represents an opportunity to continue the proud tradition of care and service that Kelli and Joe Johnson, Sr. established when they opened Johnson & Brown Funeral Home in 2010.

With its beautiful, modern facility and its reputation as a trusted resource for families, Johnson & Brown has long been recognized as a great funeral home in the Iowa community. Johnson Funeral Home, deeply rooted in Lake Charles, feels a natural connection with Iowa and views the two communities as one extended family. This acquisition reflects Johnson Funeral Home’s gratitude for the opportunity to serve and support families in both the Greater Lake Charles and Iowa areas.

Kelli Johnson will remain an active partner and continue to serve families in Iowa with the same compassion and dedication that has defined Johnson & Brown for more than a decade. Together, the combined teams will ensure that families receive the same trusted care, now supported by the added resources of Johnson Funeral Home.

“We are both honored and grateful to continue the tradition that Kelli and Joe began here in Iowa,” said Andy Hankins, CEO and funeral director at Johnson Funeral Home. “Our goal is to build upon that strong foundation while expanding the support and services available to families in this community.”

Johnson Funeral Home looks forward to carrying forward the values of dignity, compassion, and trust that have guided Johnson & Brown since its founding, while continuing to invest in serving families with excellence for generations to come.

For almost 50 years, Johnson Funeral Home has proudly served families in Southwest Louisiana with compassionate care and personalized services. With locations in Lake Charles, Sulphur, Moss Bluff, and Iowa, Louisiana, Johnson Funeral Home is dedicated to helping families honor and remember their loved ones with dignity and respect. Learn more at johnsonfuneralhome.net.

Auburn, Maine, based Death Care organization Milestone Funeral Partners is continuing their growth pattern by announcing last week that they made another funeral home acquisision.  This article from WETM of Elmira, New York, makes note that Milestone has purchased a  “long-time family operated funeral home in Elmira“.

That funeral home was the McInerny Funeral Home and the article lists the purchase date as July 16.  According to the article, Milestone Funeral Partners Co-owner Michael Martel made note that “Kevin McInerny, former owner of McInerny Funeral Home, will remain as the managing partner”. 

Also, according to the article, Milestone Funeral Partners now operates more than 60 funeral homes, crematories, and cemeteries.

Here is the website for McInerny Funeral Home

Here is the website of Milestone Funeral Partners

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Thacker Caskets Expands with Acquisition of Southern Legacy Casket and New Warehouse in Bowling Green, Kentucky

MONROVIA, MD – Thacker Caskets, the leading family-owned funeral supply company, is pleased to announce the acquisition of Southern Legacy Casket Company. This strategic acquisition reinforces Thacker’s commitment to delivering exceptional service and products to our valued customers.

Thacker Caskets is excited to share the opening of a second Kentucky warehouse, located in Bowling Green. This new facility will enhance our logistics capabilities, allowing us to better serve customers in the region with faster delivery times and an expanded product inventory.

“We are thrilled to welcome the talented team at Southern Legacy Casket to the Thacker family,” said Danielle Thacker of Thacker Caskets. “Their dedication to providing high-quality, affordable caskets perfectly aligns with our mission, and we are excited to work alongside them to ensure that our customers’ expectations are not only met but exceeded.”

The integration of Southern Legacy’s products with Thacker’s experience is designed to maintain the high standards of quality and affordability that both companies’ customers have come to expect. Together, the combined team will continue to prioritize customer satisfaction while leveraging Thacker’s resources to bring innovative solutions and expanded offerings to funeral homes throughout the region.

Duey Eversole, owner of Southern Legacy, says, “I’ve been working in the industry since 1988 and I am thrilled to continue serving funeral homes with the utmost care and compassion as we join forces with Thacker. This partnership marks an exciting chapter moving forward and we are proud to align with a company that shares our commitment to excellence.”

The new Bowling Green warehouse is set to open January 20, 2025, providing a convenient location to better meet the needs of our customers in Kentucky and surrounding states. This addition reflects Thacker’s ongoing commitment to investing in infrastructure that supports efficient distribution and superior service.

For over 85 years, Thacker Caskets has been a trusted partner for funeral homes, offering a diverse range of caskets crafted with care and precision. With the acquisition of Southern Legacy Casket and the expansion into Bowling Green, Thacker is poised to continue its legacy of excellence while embracing new opportunities for growth and collaboration.

About Thacker Caskets:

Founded in 1939, Thacker Caskets is the largest family-owned funeral supply company in the United States. With a focus on quality, affordability, and exceptional customer service, Thacker’s mission is to be the most trust funeral supplier by providing honest products, at an honest price, with honest service. To learn more, please visit thackercaskets.com

Last week Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos told reporters in this article that Netflix has no plans to pursue mergers and acquisitions next year. . . . .what is interesting about his comments is that he also said, “We are better builders than buyers”.

I found that a really interesting statement from a company that has grown its subscriber base from 34 million subscribers in 2013 to approximately 283 million subscribers this year.  In the article, Sarandos states that Netflix has done small acquisitions but re-iteretated, historically (we’ve) “. . . been a better builder”.

It made me think, “What about funeral homes?”  What are the options. . . and what works better — expanding and growing services organically or taking on debt to build or grow through acquisition?

It is an interesting question. . . and there is no right or wrong answer.  Growing organically by gaining more market share or expanding a geographic reach of a single location through marketing may be more profitable in a more immediate sense, but large gains in volume and profitability probably only come from acquisitions of other locations.

Yet, growing organically poses little downside, especially in the thought of long-term debt, whereas a purchase puts long-term debt on the table, which if all does not go as planned leaves a funeral home servicing debt from its present location.  i.e. acquisitions carry more risk. . . . and, you even see the large public companies sometimes talk about having too much debt.

Netflix and the streaming industry also has the idea of what I call “service flux” in common with funeral establishments.  While an acquisition by Netflix of a legacy media company such as a cable company creates risk in the possibility of many of those customers leaving cable (cutting the cable cord) for a streaming service that may not be Netflix should an acquisition happen.  In essence, it is a lot like a funeral home acquisition — there is no guarantee consumer families may continue to use the acquired funeral home (or the acquired cable firm).

That’s somewhat like purchasing a funeral home in a 50% cremation market that over the next few years might become a 70-80% cremation market.  i.e. a funeral home purchaser needs to almost have a crystal ball to know going forward the cremation percentage of his future business much like Netflix needs that crystal ball to know how many customers it will keep from an acquired company. . . . So that risk to a funeral home acquisition, in my opinion, is somewhat akin to the risk a streaming company might have when buying a legacy media company.

So, what if you want to grow your funeral business and are somewhat averse to the risk of long-term debt?  I was fortunate in my business that at times I stressed both ways of growth— at one time we put a strategy together to raise our market share organically and at another time we took on some debt to buy out a competitor.

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Both strategies worked for us. . . . . but before you go after one of them you need to know and plan how you will implement your strategy.  In the case of organic market share we did it with a highly-defined strategy and maximum effort in preneed marketing and  sales.  Interestingly enough, we found that our additional marketing dollars put into our preneed campaign also brought benefits in the area of “Top of Mind” awareness by consumers at the time of At-Need deaths.

We also worked very hard to be the funeral home that could get the job done in the fashion that pleased the family.  Concentrating on satisfying families always played a role in building market share. . . . because to first build market share I contend that you have to retain market share of existing clientele.

We gained both in the At-Need death market share at the time of the campaign and the preneed effort solidified that market share expansion over time.

And in the case of acquisition expansion, I always made sure that I had a way to fund the on-going debt service in case that the acquisition plan didn’t materialize exactly as I thought it would.

Every week or so Funeral Director Daily has an article about an acquisition.  But don’t be fooled by that . . . . like Netflix does, the really good funeral homes are also building their location market share organically every single day. . . .That’s one of the best kept secrets that legacy funeral homes know and understand.

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You can read in this press release issued yesterday by Park Lawn Corporation (PLC) that, effective yesterday, they added four stand-alone funeral homes to their company via the purchase of two funeral businesses in the suburban geographic area to the west of Chicago, Illinois.

PLC announced the purchase of the Fitzgerald Funeral Home & Crematory of Rockford, Illinois. . . . a firm that operates out of two chapels.  The company also announced the purchase of Burke-Tubbs Funeral Home – Freeport and Burke-Tubbs Funeral Home – Forreston.  Those firms are located in Freeport and Forreston, Illinois respectively.

Here’s what Park Lawn Corporation CEO J. Bradley Green said in a prepared statement in the press release from Park Lawn Corporation, “We are thrilled to expand our operating presence in the State of Illinois through the strategic acquisition of the Fitzgerald and Burke-Tubbs businesses.  We are honored to welcome these esteemed businesses and their dedicated teams into the Park Lawn family.  Their addition to our portfolio enables us to better serve Illinois families with the outstanding care and excellence for which these businesses are known.”

According to information from their respective websites, Fitgerald Funeral Home & Crematory was founded in 1914 and Burke-Tubbs Funeral Homes were founded in 1953.

Funeral Director Daily take:  The privatization of Park Lawn Company certainly has not slowed down their acquisition rate.  Just one month ago, Funeral Director Daily reported on a Park Lawn Corporation acquisition in Texas.  Here is that article.  

According to information contained in the press release, Park Lawn Corporation now operates in two Canadian provinces and 17 states of the United States.

Here is a graphic that shows the Park Lawn Corporation locations.

Here is the website for the Fitzgerald Funeral Home & Crematory

Here is the website for the Burke-Tubbs Funeral Homes

Another funeral home acquisition story —  Smith-Miner Funeral Home continues as “family” business.  Midland Daily News (MI)

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The teaser for this webinar states, “Fifty percent of funeral businesses are expected to change hands as the next generation leaves the business”.  

A webinar conducted by Johnson Consulting Group’s President and CEO Jake Johnson will take center stage tomorrow, April 4, from 3:00 to 4:30 pm Eastern Time. (2 pm to 3:30 pm Central Time)

Jake Johnson

If you are thinking of growing your business or thinking of exiting your business this should be a must watch for you to help you undertand what the variables will be in moving in your desired direction.  According to the registration information, Johnson will set the table by discussing the following:

1.  Getting your “house” in order in preparation for growth.
2.  Determine what are the steps needed for acquisition.
3.  Learn how to successfully onboard a new acquisition.

To learn more and/or register click here.

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As you get older and older time seems to move faster and faster.  For those of us who were in the business back in 2013 we saw the  acquisition of Stewart Enterprises, then the 2nd largest funeral home and cemetery operator in the country, being acquired by the largest operator, Service Coporation International.

At that time, according to FTC documents, Service Corporation International (SCI) operated 1,449 funeral service operations and 374 cemeteries while Stewart Enterprises operated 217 funeral service operations and 141 cemeteries.  As you can imagine, many markets had both SCI and Stewart Enterprise properties which brought the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) into the merger discussion with anti-trust monopoly concerns at the forefront.

At the end of the day, as you can read in this FTC bulletin from back then, the acqusition was allowed to move forward but not before SCI agreed to sell 53 funeral homes and 38 cemeteries to allow a continual competitive basis for consumers in certain markets.  In addition to that requirement, the FTC put this ruling into effect pertaining to SCI and acquisitions for the next ten years, “Also, for 10 years, the FTC will be able to review any attempt by SCI to acquire any funeral or cemetery assets in the relevant geographic markets, as well as several other local areas where no remedy was required but where further acquisitions would likely to lead to competitive harm but may not require premerger notice under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act.”

In essence, SCI was virtually prohibited from acquiring funeral home and cemetery properties in certain markets for the next ten years.  As to time flying, I was reminded in the Earnings Call from SCI’s year end results recently that prohibition will be ending come May 2024.  In response to a question on the subject, here’s what SCI CEO Thomas Ryan responded:

“I think it’s hard to size it, but it is a significant amount of markets that we’ve been really precluded from participating in for the last two years by those prior notice agreements, which expire in May. So it’s very difficult to predict when or what. But we’re excited about it. We do think it kind of allows us to be a little more active as it relates to acquisitions and get back involved in some of those markets. So we’re excited about it. We think it will create some momentum.”

And here is what SCI CFO Eric Tanzberger said in responding to another question on the subject:

“So again, we’ve always been active in these markets in the sense of developing relationships and not so much around the deal, but getting to know people, getting to know what their plans are. So it isn’t like we’re going to for the first time begin to talk to people. We’ve been out there just being a good neighbor. So again, as far as numbers of markets, I don’t have them in front of me, but think of them as being mainly in some major markets and my guess is probably somewhere that we’d be interested in 15 to 25 type of markets that are out there that we’ve not had the ability really to think too heavily as it relates to growing through acquisitions.”

Here is the press release on the FTC dictate back in 2013.

Here is the recent SCI Earnings Call transcript

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily:  It’s certainly hard to know the corporate strategies that take shape in the context of the private board room.  But, if you look at the FTC notice back in 2013 it states that SCI owned 1,449 funeral service locations and 374 cemeteries and Stewart Enterprises owned 217 funeral service locations and 141 cemeteries.  That is a total of approximately 1,666 funeral service locations and 415 cemeteries.

We know that SCI was forced by the FTC to sell some of those properties for the acquisition to take effect and we also know that over the last decade SCI divested some of their other properties to sit at where their latest press release states, “At December 31, 2023, we owned and operated 1,483 funeral service locations and 489 cemeteries . . . “

In my opinion, management of SCI has remained at a pretty static count for the last decade and this moratorium ending provides a virtual unadulterated look and opportunity at looking at growth and acquiring growth where they want it, geographically speaking, to come from.

My guess is that SCI knows where it wants to grow and what businesses they will be looking to acquire.  I’m sure that they have been building those relationships for some time and will be moving into an acquisition mode as soon as the moratorium expires.  I also believe that as they move forward with whatever plan that they have, there will be other firms in a selling mode that don’t fit SCI’s plans and they will be available to the other acquisition companies creating what might be a great “seller’s market”. . . . although the great companies won’t overpay, especially in today’s environment of direct cremation and almost at-best “stable revenue per case” situations.

One Investor’s Viewpoint:  If you look at the FTC press release from 2013 you will notice that they (The FTC) list the combined revenues of SCI and Stewart Enterprises at approximately $2.9 billion.  SCI just announced total revenues of almost $4.1 billion for 2023.  So, the increase from 2013 is about $1.2 billion from 2013 that’s about a 41% increase or about 4.1% per year.  Pretty fair (and good for a 3x stock price increase in that time period (see article), but not enough to really be considered a “growth company”.

Public stocks are, in my opinion, valued sometimes, actually most of the time, on potential.  Without acquisitions the potential of SCI is generally internal “organic growth”. . . something that comes slowly in the death care business.  Again, my opinion is that the fastest way to raise shareholder value for SCI will be to “profitably” increase revenues in a quicker manner that will move their price earnings (P/E) ratio to one that would be more aligned with a “growth company”.  And, acquisitions will be the fastest way to do so.

Again, just my opinion, but SCI as a slow methodical organic revenue builder will be priced like a utility company stock, but if the company can show potential faster growth it will be valued at a much higher P/E level. . . . .and that’s why I think acquisitions will soon be on the table.

Disclaimer — The author of this article for Funeral Director Daily is a shareholder of SCI stock.

More news from the world of Death Care:

Funeral home directors:  Cash-strapped families are deliberately leaving deceased relatives unclaimed.  Video news story and print article.  KING TV-5 NBC Seattle (WA)

The price and process of dying abroad.  Healthnews.com

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