I like to stay in the know about all of the National and Regional funeral home and cemetery acquisition and operating companies.  Sometimes though I’m surprised by the growth of these companies over time if I have not checked in regularly.

I had that feeling the other day about Milestone Funeral Partners when I read this article that the Maine-based company had hired a veteran Mergers & Acquisition employee.  The article begins by saying this,  “Milestone Funeral Partners, an Auburn (Maine)-based funeral, cemetery and crematory business, has hired an industry veteran with experience in mergers and acquisitions to lead the company’s next chapter. . . . . .Christopher Sasso has been named chief development officer. He will succeed Seb D’Appolonia, who was in the role for three years.”

What struck me was not the fact that a new hire had came on board, but the next paragraph of the article which made this statement, “A spokesperson for Milestone Funeral Partners told Mainebiz that since its founding in 2021, the company has acquired 64 partner firms across New England and New York.”

My surprise was that I had no idea that Milestone Funeral Partners had acquired 64 units of operation since the founding in 2021.  I would think, in anybody’s book, that’s a pretty quick ramp up of scale. . . .It’s a pace that is more than one acquisition property per month being added to the company.

And I’m guessing that the hiring of Sasso was not done to slow down that ramp-up.  Here’s what the press release says about the future, “With the addition of Sasso, the company is poised for future growth and expansion.”

Related — According to the website of Rosewood Private Investments, Milestone Funeral Partners is one of their portfolio companies.

Related —  Here is a March 2024 press release from Rosewood Private Equity that gives more information on their involvement

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily take:  There is nothing unusual about the hiring of a M&A person by a funeral acquisition and operating firm.  However, I think the wider view of this type of hiring is the fact that there are companies, with cash available, that are expecting to grow from acquisitions in the Death Care realm.

Hiring people with the contacts and friendships of over 30-years in the business can help build relationships that may give a company an edge over a competitor when discussing options for an owner who is looking for a succession plan.

In my book, these types of hires continue to show that the acquisition-built companies have the knowledge that a lot of firms are, or soon will be, looking at divestiture.  And, if private equity is involved there is probably ample cash available which may bid up prices for the best properties.

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In the last calendar year – dating back to October 16, 2023 – Matthews International stock, the parent company of Aurora Casket and Matthews Environmental Solutions (cremation), has dropped over 44% in a world, by contrast, where the Dow Jones Industrials have risen over 25% for the same dates.

A recent (October 6, 2024) article in Seeking Alpha titled “Matthews International: Lawsuit risks loom, but inflection point could be near”, gives an argument to the thought that the worst of the stock price drop may be behind the company.  Funeral Director Daily will give some quotes from the article and then let you read the article here and decide for yourself on the status of the company.

You may or may not know that Matthews International is a consolidated company with three distinct segments — Industrial Tehnologies, Memorialization, and SGK Brand Solutions.  As you can understand, most of our readers are interested in the Memorialization Segment.

Here’s a few quotes from the Seeking Alpha article authors:

• “Matthews International faces challenges due to an outstanding Tesla lawsuit casting a pall, but historically low stock levels present a potential buying opportunity as operating metrics may improve.”

• “The company’s memorialization business shows promise with expected Q4 improvements, lapping declining death rates and tough comparisons.”

• “Industrial technology struggles with stalled EV battery equipment orders . . . “

• “Cost-saving measures and strategic acquisitions aim to improve profitability. . .” 

• “Matthews International  is a stock we’ve covered for some time now. We’ve had successes with it, but the latest run for the stock has been difficult. The major news has been a Tesla  lawsuit against Matthews, looking for an injunction against the company to stop it from monetizing allegedly stolen “trade secrets” that hadn’t been specified.”

• “Memorialization is a cash cow, and with significant declines in the stock, we are beginning to get to prices where that cash cow will be downside protection.”

• “We also believe there is scope for improvements once again in industrial technology between the new product launch and the outstanding orders.”

Related Article — Matthews International completes Senior Notes offering.  PR Newswire

Here is the website for Matthews International

Here is the website for the Matthews International Memorialization Segment

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