Everstory Partners, who may be the nation’s 2nd largest Death Care provider by serving over 65,000 families per year, recently announced completed renovations at their Cedar Hill Funeral Home just outside Washington, DC.  This press release from Everstory will give you more information on the recent transformation at the funeral home that serves about 1,400 families per year.

According to the press release, “Everstory Partners is transforming its funeral homes to emphasize hospitality and comfort for families.”

Again, according to the press release, “Everstory Partners’ mission is to create supportive spaces where individuals and families can find solace, meaning, and hope in the midst of loss. Since 1999, the company has grown to include 463 cemetery, funeral, and crematory locations serving more than 65,000 families a year across the United States (including Puerto Rico) on both a pre-need and at-need basis.”

Here is the website for Cedar Hills Funeral Home and Cemetery.

Here is the website for Everstory Partners.

LIlly Donohue
Everstory CEO

A Little History — You may recall that Everstory Partners grew out of the public company funeral home and cemetery operator StoneMor Partners that was taken private by Axar Capital Management in November 2022.  About a year later, the company re-branded as Everstory Partners.  Andrew Axelrod was the principal behind Axar Capital Management and today serves as the Chairman of the Board of Everstory Partners.  The day-to-day operations have been led by President and Chief Executive Officer Lilly Donohue since the take private movement in 2022.

The “Quiet Company” — If you Google “the quiet company” you will come up with at least one result that mentions Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance company who branded that way at one time.  Google’s definition of “the quiet company” said this, “formerly Northwestern Mutual, a financial giant noted for its understated, trust-focused approach.”

Northwestern Mutual has re-branded with a bolder approach than being the “quiet company” but I remember that moniker because I used Northwestern Mutual as the cornerstone of my financial holdings when I started in business over 40 years ago.  There is no doubt that they were understated, but financially strong with great ideas and avenues for their clients.

I bring this up because when I checked up on Everstory Partners I was very impressed with what I have seen in the past three years as to the development of the company . . . .and I had not heard much about what they were doing.  Here’s a brief video of Everstory Partners being featured on Viewpoint with Dennis Quaid that will give you some insight on how they have been rebuilding the company since the take private moment.

Like Northwestern Mutual, I could not help but think that Everstory Partners is restoring an “understated and trust-focused” approach to what they are doing. . . . and, that should bode well for them moving into the future.

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“A servant’s attitude guided by Christ leads to a significant life”

National funeral home and cemetery operator Carriage Services announced their 3rd Quarter results last week.  In total they announced total revenues of $102.7 million in revenues for the 3rd Quarter in comparison to the 2024 3rd Quarter of $100.7 million — that’s a 2% total increase.  The same report also stated that the company’s revenue for the 9 month period ending September 30, 2025, totaled $312.0 million as compared to the total revenue for the same 9-month period of 2024 of $306.5 million — that’s an increase of about 1.8% on the year so far.

That doesn’t tell the whole story, however, as the press release from Carriage Services, which you can access here, alludes to how strong the cemetery and preneed operations of the company have been.  Here’s a couple of bullet points from the press release that points to that fact:

• Total revenue grew 2.0% over the prior year quarter, driven by increased operating revenue of 5.2% primarily as a result of 21.4% growth in cemetery preneed sales;
• Cemetery operating revenue increased 12.6% over the prior year quarter, driven by a 4.6% increase in the number of preneed interment rights sold and a 15.1% increase in the average price of preneed interment rights sold
• Financial revenue increased 27.2% over the prior year quarter, primarily driven by a 27.9% increase in preneed insurance contracts sold resulting in an increase in general agency commission revenue

On the other side of the equation, funerals, I noticed that the number of funeral contracts slipped about 2% over the same 3-month (3Q) period of last year and the increase in Funeral Revenue per case was less than 1% coming in at increased revenue rate of 0.7%.  The low rate of funeral contract revenue growth makes sense when you also notice the company’s rate of cremation to burial also slightly increased for the 3Q period. . . . . Carriage Services reported a 3Q25 cremation rate of 61% as compared to a 3Q24 cremation rate of 60.4%.

Carriage Services Vice-Chairman and CEO Carlos Quezada summed up the quarter with some prepared remarks in the press release.  In part, Quezada made these comments:

“We are excited to be back in growth mode, expanding our footprint this quarter through strategic acquisitions of businesses that served over 2,600 families and generated more than $15 million in annual revenue last year. At the same time, we divested certain non-core assets to reallocate capital towards better long-term value creation opportunities.

Total operating revenue grew 5.2% year-over-year, driven by 21.4% growth in cemetery preneed sales combined with financial revenue growth of 27.2%, reflecting the continued success of our national prearranged funeral and cemetery strategy. These results highlight the strength of our team, the effectiveness of our business strategy, and the growing demand for the premier experiences we deliver. Purposeful Growth in Action – Building Momentum Toward Our 2030 Vision.”

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily take:  Carriage Services management has been upfront in the past couple of years letting shareholders know that they re-allocating the assets of the business to set up greater success in the future.  They have sold some business units and acquired others — which in some areas makes comparable financial data hard to interpret without knowing what has been sold and acquired.

However, from the success of their cemetery segment and this knowledge that their new preneed agreements seem to be bringing more revenue to the bottom line, I conclude that they seem to be on the right track.

From my point of view, the consumer rarely stands still and it appears to me that part of the Carriage Services’ management goal is to be ahead of the curve for that consumer and have the right products ready for tomorrow’s consumers.  It’s an ongoing task that could pay big dividends in the future.

Disclaimer —  The author of this article for Funeral Director Daily is a shareholder of Carriage Services.

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“A servant’s attitude guided by Christ leads to a significant life”

I was again reminded of stock guru Peter Lynch and his affinity for “boring investments” when I looked at the 2025 3rd Quarter results for Service Corporation International that were issued last week.  Lynch, who you may know, was the broker/analyst/investor who led the mutual fund Fidelity Magellan to a 29.2% annual rate of return from 1977 to 1990 and wrote a book called “One Up on Wall Street” where he told of how he made his stock selections.

I read that book a long time ago and it gave me a solid foundation for investing.  According to Gemini artificial intelligence here’s what Lynch’s philosophy with a company such as Service Corporation International (SCI) was/is :

“In One Up on Wall Street, Peter Lynch uses the analogy of plastic knives and forks to illustrate his preference for boring, low-growth industries. While he doesn’t explicitly link the “plastic knives and forks” quote to Service Corporation International (SCI), he mentions the funeral business as an example of an unglamorous, no-growth industry that is often overlooked but can produce big winners.”

When one looks at SCI’s 3rd quarter return in relation to the high-flyer companies such as Nvidia, Broadcom, Apple, and the like it’s downright boring. . . . . but, as Lynch explains, provides growth over time.  In the company’s 3rd Quarter 2025 Financial Report that you can access here, here is what SCI reported:

• Revenue grew $44.1 million, or 4.4%, over the third quarter of 2024
• Gross profit increased $12.9 million, or 5%, in the current quarter
• Comparable total funeral sales average grew 3.1% over the third quarter of 2024 supported by 13.4% growth in non-funeral home sales average
• Cemetery preneed sales production increased 9.6% in the current quarter

Here’s how Tom Ryan, SCI’s Chairman and CEO  reacted to those numbers and anticipated the future in a prepared statement in the company’s press release, “We are proud to report adjusted earnings per share of $0.87 and net cash provided by operating activities of $252.3 million. Strong performance in our cemetery segment was led by an increase in preneed cemetery sales production of 10%, which drove growth in comparable cemetery revenue of 7% and cemetery gross profit of 12%. An increase in our comparable core funeral average was offset by the anticipated decline in comparable core funeral services performed. In addition, our non-funeral home sales average increased 13.4%, far outpacing the slight decline in non-funeral home services performed. Finally, our core funeral preneed sales production increased 9% with increases in both insurance and trust production. Based on these strong results, we are well positioned to have a strong finish to the year.”

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily take:   When you are the biggest at anything lots of people take notice of your performance.  And there is no doubt that SCI is, by far, the largest player in the Death Care business.  My guess is that their Revenue of over $4 billion is probably about 10 times more than there largest competitor so they are very large.

However, they continue to refine their business model so that they are churning out profits even as Death Care is changing.  SCI seems to stay profitable and roll (and adjust) with the waves of changing funeral and cemetery consumer preferences.  With that said, there is no guarantee that that track record can continue and that is what makes investing such an interesting proposition.

I see some “warning trends” that need watching.  Like other funeral home providers who have seen clientele change their selections and methods of disposition, celebration, and memorialization, I think that is starting to happen with SCI properties as well.

If you look at their “Consolidated Funeral financials” they have a line-item named “Non-Funeral Home Revenue”.  They define that line-item as such, “Non-funeral home revenue represents services sold on a preneed or atneed contract through one of our non-funeral home sales channels (e.g. SCI Direct) and performed once death has occurred”.

If you look at the 3rd Quarter Consolidated Funeral Revenue numbers you will see that “At Need” Revenue dropped by about $4.1 million and that “Non-Funeral Home Revenue” increased by about $3.0 million.  That is somewhat insignificant but does also go with a trend that I noticed that shows that “Non-Funeral Home Revenue” was about 4.0% of “Total Consolidated Funeral Revenue” in last year’s report of  2024 9-month numbers and in the 9-month 2025 numbers is was 4.4% and finally in the latest 3Q25 report it was 4.6% of that total.

“Non-Funeral Home” Revenue is probably a growing aspect of SCI’s business. . . and that is great if it does not also reflect a change of choice from traditional at-need revenue which I believe it probably does.

That indicates to me that there probably is a trend moving away from “Traditional” At-Need services to a more “Low Cost” At-Need Services that will continue to happen over time.  And, just like cremation in the USA started with a small percentage of users it eventually grew at a fairly rapid pace over time.  . . . . . And, I think the switch to “Non-Funeral Home Providers” such as Direct Cremation outlets will follow that trend over the next decade and beyond.

The good thing for SCI if that happens is that they are positioned with low-cost cremation providers in their network of operations.  However, it is something to think about for your own traditional funeral home operation.

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“A servant’s attitude guided by Christ leads to a significant life”

It’s been pretty easy to recognize that the management team that replaced founder and long-time CEO Melvin Payne at Carriage Services has been building the foundations of the business in order to begin once again making acquisitions for growth.  That has probably been a necessary strategy but it also was noted by some investors that if they wanted to grow, then they would have to get back into the acquisition mode soon.

Well. . . .those investors should be happy now as earlier this week Carriage Services announced that they had made an acquisition of one of the larger Death Care operators in Central Florida.  In this press release Carriage Services broke the news that they would be acquiring the assets of a group of providers I’ll refer to as the “Osceola” group.

The press release describes that group of businesses as such: “a combination business with a funeral home located on a cemetery, five stand-alone funeral homes, a crematory and central care center, and a cremation focused business, located in the growing Orlando, Florida metro market.” 

Steve Metzger, President of Carriage Services had this prepared remark about those businesses from the press release, “Osceola is a truly unique collection of businesses with an incredible team. . . . . we look forward to growing with the Osceola team in the years ahead.”

And, in a statement that seems somewhat directed at those that thought Carriage Services might be waiting too long to start in acquisition mode again, Vice-Chairman and CEO of Carriage Services Carlos Quezada made this comment, “We are thrilled to reengage in acquisitions as part of our long-term growth strategy. This milestone marks the first step toward realizing our 2030 Vision and reinforces our commitment to purposeful growth.”

Related —  Here is the website for Osceola Memory Gardens, a part of the recent acquisition.

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily take:  I’ve been waiting for Carriage Services to make an announcement on an acquisition.  However, I have no issue with the timing and process of, seemingly, getting the ship in prime sailing form before setting out from the dock.  I believe that the management team at Carriage Services is being very methodical and strategic as they go about setting the right foundation not only with business sizing, but with their preneed decisions and their preferred vendors as well.

In business, I’ve always thought that a long-term strategy and the ability to follow that strategy is better than taking a swing at every pitch that comes one’s way.  And, it is my opinion that is the direction that this management team is taking.

Disclosure —  The author of this article for Funeral Director Daily is a shareholder in Carriage Services.

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“A servant’s attitude guided by Christ leads to a significant life”

Service Corporation International (SCI) conducted their 2nd Quarter 2025 Earnings Call where they answered questions from investment experts about two weeks ago.  You can access a copy of the transcript here.

During the Question and Answer session of that call SCI’s Executive Vice-President and CFO Eric Tansberger responded to a question about cash-flows and capital deployment with this answer:

“I mean we’re going to invest capital to the highest return. Certainly, we’ve done a lot in shares the first half of the year. I think you’ll see some momentum there that will continue at least the shares at this level. But the M&A program is going strong. I know someone commented that we spent $30 million year-to-date and the guidance is $75 million to $125 million in terms of investment. I think we’ll get there. I feel really good about the pipeline.

Some of the deals, I mean, if we just get through our LOIs alone right now, we’d be into that guidance, frankly, and there’s a lot more that we’re out there discussing. So I think we’ll get into that 75 — I think that’s a good guidance number for investment for M&A. Would we do more? Absolutely. The other thing that you have to remember, though, is — are the greenfield investments that we’re making, the new funeral homes and sometimes new cemeteries. This is a nice robust program, which we’ve told you — this year alone, we’re going to spend probably about $70 million on that. Could that go up? It’s possible, but it takes time. That’s a 3-year cycle. At any point in time, we have 30 to 35 projects that are in the pipeline. About 1/3 of those turn every year. And that’s at a more better velocity than what we’ve had in the past, but we’re excited about that.

M&A has its benefits because you get EBITDA and cash flow right away, but so do these construction projects have these benefits where you can build exactly where you want and exactly what you want, especially having a modern celebration of life venue when we design these brand-new funeral homes. So there’s a lot of opportunities out there, but they’re not different than what we have talked about in the past, and we’ll continue to invest as we can in both of those programs as well as the share repurchase program.”

 

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily take:  I think that this is a very appropriate and interesting answer.  A lot of people in the Death Care business think all that SCI does is go out and buy funeral homes.  But, there responsibility is not necessarily to simply go out and buy funeral homes.  Shareholders want financial returns and Tanzberger lets one know with his comments that the company has multiple options to bring excellent financial returns to its shareholders.

Yes, there are funeral homes to be acquired that can immediately add to the operating EBITDA.  But there are also share buybacks which he indicates that SCI has “done a lot“.

The most interesting thing he says in his answer, in my opinon, is his talk of “greenfield investments”.  Tanzberger goes on to say about these greenfield investments, “. . .these construction projects have these benefits where you can build exactly where you want and exactly what you want, especially having a modern celebration of life venue when we design these brand-new funeral homes”.

I think that the answer also represents a realization  that Death Care has made some changes and things, in an overall scheme are becoming different than the way they have been in the past.   Building “exactly where you want and exactly what you want” is somewhat of a change in original modus operandi for SCI over their tried-and-true acquisition method.

I think SCI’s open-ness about building these new facilities that are designed for today’s consumer might tell some existing funeral homes that they are either outdated in client amenities or the demographic numbers of their current neighborhoods may not be as profitable as they once were.

Again, Tanzberger’s answer makes this statement about the new facility and cemetery program, “This is a nice robust program, which we’ve told you — this year alone, we’re going to spend probably about $70 million on that.”  

In the same answer he says this about SCI’s acquisition program, “So I think we’ll get into that 75 (million) — I think that’s a good guidance number for investment for M&A.”

I’m just going off the top of my head here. . . .but when is the last time SCI spent as much on building new as they did on acquisitions?

Obviously, there is a “proposition value” to what SCI eventually decides to do. . . . Has the “propsition value” changed over the years between aquisitions and building new “where and what you want”?  SCI might know more than many of us about facilities, traditions, and trends. . . . and, as Tanzberg states, “I mean we’re going to invest capital to the highest return”.

Disclaimer — The author of this article for Funeral Director Daily is a Service Corporation International shareholder.

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“A servant’s attitude guided by Christ leads to a significant life”

An article was authored by Seeking Alpha contributor Daniel Jones last week about the largest funeral home and cemetery operator in North America — Service Corporation International (SCI).  As our headline mentions, the title of the article, that you can access here, is “SCI:  A stock to take to the grave”.

Jones uses some information and images from SCI’s 1st Quarter presentation, which you can see here, in giving his analysis and opinion.

As with almost all of the articles from another source that give stock information and suggestions, we will quote some of the thoughts from the article but leave the personal opinions of Funeral Director Daily out of the equation.

Here are some of the quotes Jones uses in making his decisions on SCI:

• “Service Corporation International remains a ‘buy’ due to its industry leadership, stable growth, and strong long-term demographic tailwinds.”
• “The company’s asset clustering strategy and fragmented market offer significant acquisition and cost-saving opportunities for continued expansion.”
• Transition to insurance-funded pre-need contracts should improve margins and sales growth, with management guiding for stronger performance in 2026.”
• Since I (Seeking Alpha author Jones) last wrote about the company in January of this year, in an article in which I reaffirmed the business as a ‘buy’ candidate, the stock is up only 3.8% compared to the 4.3% rise that the S&P 500 has enjoyed. But since I originally rated it a ‘buy’ over nine years ago in April 2016, the stock is up an astounding 248.4%. That comfortably outpaces the 188% rise enjoyed by the S&P 500 over the same window of time. 

A couple of different graphics are shared in the report from the SCI 1st Quarter presentation.  Those graphics make these statements:

• “SCI has 1,985 total locations in North America as of March 31, 2025

• “SCI has a 17% market share in North America with other consolidators listed as 9% in total, and independents have a 74% market share.”

Disclaimer — The author of this article for Funeral Director Daily is a stockholder of Service Corporation International

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“A servant’s attitude guided by Christ leads to a significant life”

Better Place Forests is one of those ideas whose time has come.  As a 33-year funeral director who has seen the social mores of Death Care move away from the traditional options during that time, I see where there is a place for ideas like Better Place Forest to catch on with a segment of the population and embrace their idea of memorialization.

However, new ideas and businesses sometimes don’t happen as fast or as linear as the founders may anticipate.  While I don’t know what is behind the move, Better Place Forests has announced that their business system will become a Non-Profit business.  You can read about the company’s evolution to Non-Profit status here.

The company will still be an operating business but will operate as a Non-Profit.  Non-profit businesses still operate with sound business principles in the economic sphere of commerce.  I know something about them as I have been associated with a company in the Non-Profit Senior Living and Health Care realm for almost 20 years.  I served six years on the Board, and as Chairman of the Board for Vivie for three years, and also served for six years as Chairman of the Board of Vivie spin-off partnership Ethos Home Health.  

Both of those companies are Non-profit but work at building business, gaining market share, providing employment opportunities, and grinding out financial success as we compete with profit-oriented businesses every day.  The only difference being instead of rewarding shareholders with profits, those profits are put back into the communities that we serve.

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

So, my guess is that Better Place Forests will somehow transfer shareholder stock into a current non-profit status.  There is probably a tax advantage for shareholders to do so, however, I’m guessing that the foundation of the company will stay intact and move forward with a slightly altered business plan that will still be focused on preserved forests as a memorialization destination for many people.

And, I’m also guessing that there is still ample opportunity to help foster some of your clients needs and wishes about being memorialized in a natural preserve.  Partnering with Better Place Forests can help your funeral home or cemetery do just that.  You can learn how to do that here.

Related Article — “Why I started Better Place Forests – Brad Milne”

Related Article —  “Better Place Forests becomes both “High Touch” and “High Tech”.  Funeral Director Daily October 8, 2024.

For what it is worth — Better Place Forests has been a sponsor of Funeral Director Daily and for that I am grateful.  Their sponsorship, along with the other sponsors, has allowed subscribers to receive Funeral Director Daily free of charge five days per week in their e-mail inbox.  I don’t know if the non-profit status will change that relationship but I do know from my affiliation with BPF that they have a great group of people working there and have ideals of conservation of the environment coupled with memorialization of society in a sustainable environment as the precipice of their existence and that is commendable.

There has been no better people to work with than Better Place Forest CEO Adam Tibbs and Strategic Partnerships executive Tim Rogers in building our relationship and whatever path their lives take I wish them much success.

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“A servant’s attitude guided by Christ leads to a significant life”

I read, watch, and listen about what is happening in the Death Care business.  I do that on an overall scale and I also do it with as many individual companies as possible.

Over the last couple of years as I have read, watched, and listened to items concerning funeral home and cemetery consolidator and operator Carriage Services I get a sense that management is positioning the company to move forward.  I get that sense because it appears to me that Carriage Services is getting their debt in line, is getting their rooftops in line, and positioning their company with the vendors they want to be doing business with in the future.

For instance in the recent report on the company’s 1st Quarter of 2025, which you can access here, they mentioned that they lowered their debt by $17.0 million and they announced that they had divested of assets which returned proceeds of $18.7 million to the company coffers. . . . . And, the impressive thing is that while working on those strategic situations they brought in more funeral services and revenue than they did in the comparative 1st Quarter of 2024.

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

The company reported Total Revenue of $ 107.1 million for 1Q2025 as compared to Total Revenue of $ 103.5 million in 1Q2024 — that’s an increase of about 3.5%.  The company’s quarterly funeral contracts were listed at 12,055 as compared to last year’s First Quarter contracts of 11,773 — that’s an increase of 2.4% and I believe it was done without any large acquisitions.

It was also interesting to me to note that Carriage Services and Service Corporation International both reported 1st Quarter 2025 results last week and in many areas had common results.  One that I noticed was a category which they call “Comparable Funeral Home Results”.  Here is a small table I put together which gives, in percentages, the increases for Revenue, Services Volume, and Revenue per Service for that category.  The percentages indicate the increase over the same three-month period of 2024.

Comparable Funeral Home category results
1st QTR 2025

While Carriage Services and SCI both operate on national scales, this comparison does give you something to compare your locations to.  Both companies combined to increase services coupled with a Revenue per Service increase to increase the Total Revenue.  I believe that is an approach that needs to be met in higher than normal inflationary times.

As far as Carriage Services’ performance for the quarter, here’s what CEO Carlos Quezada had to say in prepared statements in the 1Q25 press release last week, “. . . .Our solid financial performance, highlighted by a 4.6% increase in comparable funeral home revenue was primarily driven by a 2.4% increase in funeral home at-need volume and a 2.2% increase in average revenue per at-need contract. . . . .Through continued investments in innovation, the expansion of key partnerships, and the empowerment of our people, we are building the Carriage of the future.”

Here’s a couple other metrics from Carriage Services’ quarterly report:

• Cremation Rate:  Jumped to 60.5% as compared to 59.3% in 1Q2024

• Average Revenue per Funeral Contract:  Jumped to $ 5,731 as compared to $ 5,610 in 1Q2024.  (As a comparison, SCI reported “Average Revenue per Service” in 1Q2025 as $ 5,743)

• Preneed Interment Property Rights Sold:  This category declined for Carriage Services to 3,100 in 1Q2025 as compared to 3,244 in 1Q2025 — a decline of 4.5% on the year.

Finally, I think a statement by CEO Quezada gives a mindset of where Carriage Services wants to go.  He finishes his prepared statement with this sentence, “As we become a premier experience company, we are proving that passion, operational excellence, and financial discipline turns vision into value for our shareholders”.

My take on that statement is that the management of Carriage Services is focused on providing an “experience” to their clientele that over time creates a greater value to their shareholders.  That is a great aspiration to have. . . . . and it will take strategy and execution to get there.  However, I see Carriage Services continuing that march forward at this time.

Disclaimer — The author of this article for Funeral Director Daily is a shareholder of Carriage Services and of Service Corporation International.

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“A servant’s attitude guided by Christ leads to a significant life”

While it certainly is speculation on their part, one research contributor at Seeking Alpha, Caffital Research, says this about publicly held funeral home and cemetery operator Carriage Services, “The company has been quiet on the M&A front to improve the financial position throughout 2024, but with debt levels reaching a more desirable level, 2025 could return Carriage Services’ M&A activity.”

The article which was dated January 15, 2024, can be found here. 

While Funeral Director Daily will refrain from giving our own comments on the company, here are a couple of quotes from the article:

 

• “In the most recently reported Q3 report, revenues grew 11.3% year-on-year through strategic pricing increases in funeral contracts, and more notably, rapid growth in sold preneed interment rights – revenues from preneeds continued to grow at a rapid 27.1% pace in the quarter after strong momentum in previous quarters as well.” 

 

• “Although Carriage Services’ strategy focuses on consolidating the highly fragmented industry through accretive M&A, the company stayed quiet on the M&A front for the entirety of 2024, even divesting some non-core assets.”

 

• “Carriage Services’ operations have shown solid momentum organically with good pricing increases and growing demand in cemetery preneeds, also carrying into underlying profitability.”

 

Disclaimer — The author of this article for Funeral Director Daily is a shareholder of Carriage Services.

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“A servant’s attitude guided by Christ leads to a significant life”

Back in early June of this year (2024) many of us were surprised by this announcement that public funeral home and cemetery operator Park Lawn Corporation (PLC) had agreed to be acquired and taken private by a group known as Veridian Holdings.  Probably most consequential in that announcement was that one of the partners in the buy-out agreement was preneed funeral home insurance company Homesteaders Life.

The announcement revealed that Canadian private equity firm Birch Hill Equity Partners Management would join Homesteaders Life as partners in the limited partnership.

The published price for the buy-out and take private move was CAN$ 26.50 per share making the transaction total about CAN $1.2 billion, which when equated to the US dollar at the time would equal a trasaction valued at about US $871 million.

On August 9, 2024, a press release from Park Lawn Corporation announced that the transaction had been concluded and Park Lawn Corporation would now be operating as a private company owned by a group that included Homesteaders Life and Birdh Hill Equity Partners Management.

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily take:  This marks the 2nd straight year that our “Business Story of the Year” involved a take private movement involving a private equity company.  Here’s a re-cap of our story for 2023 when Batesville was sold to private equity group Long Range Capital for a reported $761 million.

There seems to be a lot of money in private equity at this time as other Death Care companies had preceeded the Park Lawn Corporation sale.  In prior years we have seen the following public funeral home and cemetery operating companies be purchased by private equity groups:  StoneMor (now re-named Everstory), Dignity plc, and InvoCare.

Related Article:  Private Equity 2024 Mid-Year Report.  September 2024.  Cherry Bekaert

What makes the Park Lawn Corporation sale interesting is that one of the major parties to the acquisition is a preneed insurance provider — Homesteaders Life.  My guess is that management of that company sees a lot of synergies in owning funeral homes and has moving forward plans of not only bringing in more premium dollars but seeing an interesting path to deploy those premium dollars in investments that can then bring in more premium dollars. . . . . I can see the opportunities. . .

On the other hand, the partnership is not without risk for Homesteaders Life. . . . .some family funeral home owners now may see the company as a competitor (in the funeral business) and not as an ally (as a preneed partner).

In any regard. . . . there are enough sides to this story to be named our “Funeral Director Daily Business Story of the Year”.

Here’s some Funeral Director Daily articles that were published on this transaction:

June 4, 2024:  Park Lawn drops a bombshell:  Company announces it is going private

June 11, 2024:  Is Park Lawn now “In play”?

June 14, 2024:  A Seeking Alpha opinion on the proposed Park Lawn sale

June 18, 2024:  Will SCI take a run at Park Lawn Corporation?

July 10, 2024:  Will Carriage Services be next?

July 29, 2024:  It’s July 29.  Will Park Lawn be going private?  What does that mean for Homesteaders Life?

July 31, 2024:  Park Lawn shareholders approve sale, take-private move.

August 19, 2024:  Where was SCI?

Final Thought:  One thing that occured to me as I looked back over these articles is that for those of you who read Funeral Director Daily to keep tabs on the bigger companies in Death Care, we certainly covered this transaction from all possible angles that we could think of. . . . . certainly more than any other publication.  I think that is part of the reason that Funeral Director Daily continues to move to the forefront of Death Care business readership. . . . . In essence, we don’t just publish the press releases as they come in, we analyze, look into, theorize, and hypothesize almost all that could happen. . . Wondering what could happen and why  . . . . . that’s what makes us different.

Just writing that last paragraph reminds me of one of my favorite quotes. . . .and it is even Death Care related coming from the Ted Kennedy eulogy of his brother Robert (RFK) at his funeral. . . . I’ve thought of it often in my own life. . . . Here is that part of the eulogy:

Those of us who loved him and who take him to his rest today, pray that what he was to us and what he wished for others will some day come to pass for all the world.

As he said many times, in many parts of this nation, to those he touched and who sought to touch him:

“Some men see things as they are and say why.
I dream things that never were and say why not.”

Join me as we move into 2025 by dreaming big for our nation and world and asking “Why not”?

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“A servant’s attitude guided by Christ leads to a significant life”