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

Late last week we received this press release that indicates that Park Lawn Corporation acquired eight stand-alone funeral homes in locations spanning the greater Oklahoma City market.  It represents Park Lawn’s entrance into the state of Oklahoma.

The press release announced “Park Lawn Corporation is pleased to announce that, effective December 1^st, it acquired substantially all of the assets of Service Group of Oklahoma (SGOK), a group of businesses consisting of eight stand-alone funeral homes with locations spanning the greater Oklahoma City market.”

Jennifer W. Hay, CEO of Park Lawn made the following prepared comment in the press release about the transaction, “Entering Oklahoma marks an exciting milestone in our growth strategy. These eight locations have deep ties to the communities they serve, and we’re proud to support their continued tradition of excellence.  We are pleased to welcome Chad Vice, John Davenport and the entire SGOK team to Park Lawn.  Their passion, expertise and commitment to service make them an outstanding addition to our organization.”

You can access the Park Lawn Corporation website here.  

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily take:  Acquiring eight established funeral homes around one major city in the United States will certainly add to the numbers of Park Lawn Corporation.  From my point of view, and this is only an anecdotal observation, it seems to me that the large national acquisition and operating companies have almost completely moved on from acquisitions in what I would call Regional Centers and are very much concentrating on what I would term mid-major and major cities almost exclusively.

That strategy makes sense. . . . . the numbers of deaths and the economies of scale make those communities very attractive to the large scale companies that can raise the combination of capital and secure the debt that it takes to acquire them.  It also allows for future “bolt-on” acquisitions in the future that can make those markets even more profitable for the operators.

If that is the strategy it leaves a lot of great communities and their funeral homes, probably outside of America’s largest 50 markets, available for acquisition by the next tier of consolidators — those that compete in a more regional sphere.  That’s good news for those operators.

While the brand names of the eight funeral homes acquired were not listed in the Park Lawn press release, here are the websites of those funeral homes that we believe may be included in the acquisition.

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

The Wall Street Journal in this recent article (you may find a paywall here) estimates that over the past 5 years Americans have gained a total of $63 trillion in personal wealth.  And, this article from Yahoo Finance states “. . . the top 20% — the high-earning American households — are thriving because they have seen immense gains in their stock portfolios and home values in recent years.”

Two results of that personal wealth gain are that Americans are consuming at record levels and these same Americans are continuing to look for more investment opportunities.  Part of those investments are going into public stocks and bonds, but I’m guessing that more and more investors, with asset qualifications, are putting money into private equity in growing sums as well.  As you can see from the chart below, as good as the public markets have been for asset growth, private equity returns have left them in the dust.

Private Equity returns vs. other returns.

All that money and all of those potential deals leads me to seeing a sign of caution.  I’ve always tried to do everything on a level keel.  Too much of one thing has never been good for me — as much as I like to golf, three days in a week is enough.  Same with a vacation — it’s fun and relaxing, but I always want to get back to work.

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

So, that brings me to my thought process —  with all the money being thrown at businesses, including funeral homes, by private equity, when will the good deals end and somebody in their quest for “growth” make the wrong decision?  I don’t know when it will happen and who it will happen to, but at some point the quest for “growth” will lead to bad decisions by somebody.

It just happened in Minnesota with a home remodeling company known as Minnesota Rusco.  You can read an article from the Minnesota Tribune here that lets the reader know that Minnesota Rusco, a Minnesota staple since 1955, was acquired by a private equity firm that was “rolling-up” home remodeling firms across the country and now is looking into bankruptcy.  Somebody either didn’t know the business that well or know the value of the “local-aspect” of these acquired businesses and it looks like the investment will be lost . . . . and the employees of Minnesota Rusco will probably be on the unemployment line.

I recently came across this article titled “There’s a lot of money in Death”:  Funeral consolidation hits Western Mass”.  The article goes on to illustrate that even in some smaller funeral homes and roll-ups involving them, that private equity is involved.  Here’s the website of a private equity firm which lists Milestone Funeral Partners as one of their investments.

It’s no secret that a large number of family funeral homes will be on the market in the next few years.  And, many of them will have the volume and be in a location that will be highly desireable for the national and regional companies to compete for.  If you are one of these owners planning to sell, make sure you know your business value and make sure that you know your buyer.

Because . . . .  I don’t think the good times will last forever and someone will get hurt when the dominoes fall.

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

Funeral Director Daily recently learned that Rollings Funeral Service, based in Georgia, made a couple of acquisitions involving more than 100-year old family funeral homes.  Over the summer they purchased the McCombs Funeral Home of Jackson and Cape Girardeau, Missouri, — a firm that was founded in 1906.

And more recently in October, Rollings Funeral Service announced that they had purchased the Preddy Funeral Homes in the greater Charlottesville, Virginia, area.  Preddy Funeral Homes dates their founding back to 1916.

According to a press release, “The McCombs Funeral Home name will remain, and its current staff and leadership will continue serving families just as they always have. Through this partnership, Rollings will provide operational support, allowing the McCombs team to focus on delivering the exceptional service their community has come to expect.”

In a prepared statement in the press release, Christi Guilliams, former owner of McCombs Funeral Home made this comment, “This is a positive step forward for our staff and the families we serve.”

As to the Preddy Funeral Homes in Virginia, they operate out of three locations and serve more than 500 families per year.  According to that press releases, “The Preddy businesses will immediately gain access to Rollings accounting, legal and human resources support services.  The staff, who all will remain in their current roles, will also gain operational support, and will be able to participate in career training and bonus programs.  Families can expect the same high-quality care they have always received. . .”

In a prepared statement in the press release, Randy Preddy, former owner of Preddy Funeral Home made these comments, “This was obviously a big decision for us, but Shelly and I really wanted to stop working as hard and be able to travel a little more. . .At the same time I grew up in these communities and feel a huge responsibility to make sure our friends are still taken care of well and fairly. . . I really became comfortable that (Rollings) have the same interests at heart.” 

Rollings Funeral Service, along with their partner Pinnacle Funeral Service, operate close to 100 funeral service locations across 20 states.

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily take:  There is no doubt in my mind that “consolidation” in the traditional funeral home realm is happening and will continue happening at a more and more rapid pace.

I also believe that while renumeration is very important in the sale process for most family, and especially generational funeral home owners, the most important consideration in many sales of these “non-major urban area ” funeral homes is the “fit” with the acquiring company.  And, today’s owners of good operations have no lack of willing purchasers so they have the ability to look for a “good fit”.

I think being a “colleague” rather than a “competitor” will make a difference as national, regional, and local companies looking to grow will be making pitches to many of the most desireable businesses going forward.

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

According to the Milestone Funeral Partners website, which you can access here, and information placed on social media, the Maine-based funeral home operator and consolidator added four funeral home businesses to their number in the last couple of months.

Announced on August 8 on the company website was information about the acquisition of the Hooker and Whitcomb Funeral Home of Barre, Vermont.  Another announcement on social media made this comment about the transaction:

Serving the Barre, VT community since 1908, the Whitcomb and Hooker names have been synonymous with compassion, care, and tradition. In their early days, during the 1930’s, their firm served as Barre’s first dedicated funeral facility, marking a shift from home-based services to modern funeral homes. They even pioneered motorized hearses and today, are located at their Academy Street location, where their legacy of service spans generations.

On August 29 the Milestone Funeral Partners website made the following announcement about the acquisition of The Avery-Storti Funeral Home and Crematory of Wakefield, Rhode Island:

More recently, the acquisition of the Lombardo Funeral Home of the Greater Buffalo, New York market was announced on October 2 and on October 3 Milestone Funeral Partners added to their website and group of funeral homes the Sansone Funeral Home of Bristol, Rhode Island.

Here is the website for Hooker and Whitcomb Funeral and Cremation Services

Here is the website for The Avery-Storti Funeral Home and Crematory

Here is the website for the Lombardo Funeral Home.

Here is the website for the Sansone Funeral Home.

Here is the website for Milestone Funeral Partners

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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”

There’s always a risk when a funeral home firm acquires another location.  There’s even more risk when a funeral home acquires a location that has had its license suspended by a state board of funeral directors.

However, as you can read and view in this report from Pennsylvania’s WTAJ-TV News that’s exactly what is happening in Howard, Pennsylvania, with the acquisition of the former Singer-Kader-Neff Funeral Home by the 5th generation firm of Wetzler Funeral Service & Victorian Cremation Services of Bellafonte, Pennsylvania.

What has happened, according to this additional article from the Centre Daily of Centre County, Pennslyvania (which you may not be able to access because of a paywall) is that the former owner of Singer-Kader-Neff Funeral Home has pleaded guilty to abuse of a corpse and with that plea agreement, again according to that article, has had to give up his funeral director license which would prohibit him from working in any capacity within the mortuary field.

The new owner of the mortuary, Wetzler Funeral Service & Victorian Cremation Services owner Dylan Wetzler made these comments in the WTAJ-TV article, “I wasn’t sure if it was something we were going to want to entertain just because of the history.  Coming here to earn the trust of Howard back was going to be difficult. Once you leave, once a family chooses to go to a different funeral home, it’s very tough to get them to come back, especially with what had happened here.”

Wetzler is making “thousands of dollars” worth of renovations to the structure and expects these renovations to be done by the Spring of 2026.  He’s also making a committment to the Howard community by announcing that the funeral home will honor all previously made prearrangements.

Here is the website of the Wetzler Funeral Home and Victorian Cremation Services.

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily take:  My dad, who was the 3rd generation funeral home owner in our family and who not only operated the funeral home, but also operated a small retail furniture store and liked to accumulate real estate, used to tell me, “You don’t always make your income by how much you sell something for, but by how much you bought it for.”

Dad served on a bank board and also had great relationships with all the bankers in our small community.  It was those relationships which allowed him to purchase distressed real estate for “dimes on the dollar”, improve it, and then sell it for a good profit.  In essence, his profit came not from the high selling price, but the low acquisition cost.

My guess is that is what will happen with this transaction.  Bellafonte and Howard are small communities in Pennsylvania where there is probably not a great amount of choice of funeral home operators.  And, the fact that Bellafonte is only 12 miles from Howard should allow the Wetzler family the ability to service Howard in an economical fashion — possibly folding the work into the existing staff in Bellafonte which would allow for economies of scale in the most expensive category of costs.

In addition, reputations among small rural communities travel fast.  The fact that the Wetzler family has been in business in Bellafonte since 1895 and are in their 5th generation of operation should give comfort to those Howard families and retard any movement to funeral homes in other communities — especially since Wetzler’s will not only be keeping a facility in Howard, but making visible improvements to it.

I think that this is a good reminder that there are all kinds of reasons one funeral home may acquire another one.  It’s also a good reminder that there may be opportunities for funeral homes that might mean taking some reputational risk but that might be able to be funded, because you are taking that risk, with a financial outlay of “dimes on the dollar”.

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

According to this article from the Beloit (WI) Daily News, funeral home owners Jarod and Tania Williams have acquired the two locations of the Brian Mark Funeral Home.  According to the Brian Mark Funeral Home website, which you can access here, the company owned and operated funeral homes in Beloit and Clinton, Wisconsin.

Jarod and Tania Williams have operated the Rosman-Uehling-Kinzer Funeral Home in Beloit as well as the D.L. Newcomer Funeral Home in Brodhead and the Houck Funeral Home in Dodgeville (WI).

You can see a new updated website for the Beloit funeral homes here.

From the Brian Mark Funeral Home website it appears that Brian Mark will continue to work at the Brian Mark Funeral Home.

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

About ten days ago this article appeared on investor site Seeking Alpha authored by Caffital Research.  The article was about funeral home/crematory/cemetery operator Carriage Services.  The title of the article was “Carriage Services:  Further upside requires further M&A.”

In that article the author(s) stated “Carriage Services, Inc. has still been quiet on the M&A front. The funeral home and cemetery operator has moderated its debt through non-core asset divestments and by using internal cash flow on debt payments, creating a better financial position for further acquisitions. Yet, such transactions haven’t been announced so far. Carriage Services’ own operations remain stable.”

The writer(s) did make this statement about Carriage Services operation without comment to the M&A levels, “As can be expected, Carriage Services’ own performance has stayed quite stable. The first quarter showed total revenues of $107.1 million, up by 3.5% year-on-year. Consolidated adjusted EBITDA came in at $32.9 million, showing strong leverage from $27.0 million a year ago. Both revenues and the adjusted EPS beat Wall Street’s consensus.”

Finally, the article made this comment, “The Q1 earnings call still reiterated the point that Carriage Services is looking at acquisition candidates, and noted that the company is already in discussions with a number of owners. The notations suggest that Carriage Services may finally return to acquisitions in the latter parts of 2025. The lack of transactions in 2025 so far has still been disappointing and somewhat lowers my expectations of Carriage Services’ future M&A pace, though.”

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily:  As is my general position, I’m not going to comment on the researcher’s opinions.  I’ll leave that up to each of you.  However, I did want to look back on the company’s 1st Quarter Earnings Call, which you can access here, to see what exactly was said about acquisitions.

Here’s the comment I believe Caffital Research is alluding to about “looking at acquisitions”.  It comes from Carriage Services’ Chief Financial Officer John Enwright in an answer to an analyst’s question:

“Yes. So we are talking to a number of owners right now. And again, just kind of going back, when you think about those 16 months and $38 million of proceeds, we do intend to reinvest some of those in higher-quality EBITDA producing businesses and expect to be able to share more about that in Q3 and then again in Q4 as well. So back half of this year, there will be more to report there, but excited to be able to add acquisitions back to the value creation story for Carriage.” 

Disclosure — 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”