Halifax Group Backing Propels Franchise Push for Comfort Keepers
Franchise Times
Halifax Group Backing Propels Franchise Push for Comfort Keepers
By Laura Michaels
Jul 14, 2025
Comfort Keepers offers a range of in-home senior care and specialized services at its more than 600 locations in the United States and Canada.
This story is part of “Post-Close: An Inside Look at Franchise M&A Outcomes,” a digital series in which Franchise Times revisits past Dealmakers winners to explore how they’re putting investment dollars to work, if integration of that acquisition is going as planned and what they’ve learned in the process. Nick Bryan left no doubt about his feelings on the impact of Halifax Group’s acquisition of Comfort Keepers, the in-home senior care brand in which he’s among the largest franchisees.
“[The acquisition] is probably the single best thing that’s happened in this company since I’ve been an owner,” said Bryan, a franchisee since late 2019. “The focus and the investment in the business is just an order of magnitude better than it was under Sodexo. I think we were a forgotten sideshow at Sodexo.”
Sodexo, a global foodservice and facilities management company, purchased Comfort Keepers in 2009 from Webster Capital, and in the ensuing years added numerous corporate and franchised operations in the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Nordics, France and Brazil under Worldwide Home Care. It put Worldwide Home Care up for sale in 2023 and Halifax Group, a private equity firm in Washington, D.C., acquired it in October of that year in a transaction that earned a Franchise Times Dealmakers award.
In the nearly two years since the deal closed, what’s now Elevate Care International has made numerous changes. It sold the Amelis and Pronep home care businesses that operate in France and Brazil, respectively, to in-country owners. It’s refranchising more than 30 locations of Prestige Nursing and Care in the United Kingdom and, in Canada, where there are 28 Comfort Keepers offices, the company bought back the master franchise rights.
ECI retained ownership of Prima Nordics, under which it has senior care services in Norway, Denmark and Sweden.
It’s been a whirlwind of activity, said Natalie Black, who was the chief executive office of Worldwide Home Care and now leads Comfort Keepers and Elevate Care International as CEO.
In the United States, where Irvine, California-based Comfort Keepers has more than 600 locations, a major effort to refranchise 105 corporate territories is nearly complete and comes as the brand makes a strategic shift to accelerate franchise development.
The majority of the company units were sold to existing franchisees or employees such as general managers, which Black said “speaks volumes” to how those groups feel about the brand.
Comfort Keepers hired Scott Oaks as vice president of franchise development in March 2024 and elevated Chris Tepe and Lucas Reis in their respective franchise operations roles to senior vice president and executive director.
“We also bolstered up our franchise support, and that can be felt both through our field support and also through learning and development and a strong focus for franchisees there. And then we’re focusing on system optimization … and how do we support our franchisees to have the most efficient systems possible,” Black said.
The move to franchise-first growth required a culture shift as well, she acknowledged, as the company looked inward and addressed where it needed some “extra expertise” as it onboards new franchisees in new markets.
“What I will say, pretty universally, it’s the sales component and getting out into—because this is an area where Comfort Keepers hasn’t existed—and it’s getting out and making the connections with the local community,” said Black of what’s key to establishing a new office.
The average unit volume for Comfort Keepers for its last fiscal year ended August 31, 2024, was $1.3 million. That was driven by the 474 franchises open seven years or more as those locations averaged $1.36 million in sales. By contrast, the 12 locations open between 13 and 24 months averaged $385,133, which means franchisees need to be prepared with the proper capital as they ramp up.
Black said franchisees must also emphasize a strong culture to attract caregivers, and she believes Comfort Keepers has an edge.
“For us, the big differentiator is our focus on elevating the human spirit and on joy,” said Black. While client safety is the No. 1 focus, it doesn’t stop there.
“We believe that our clients should continue living a joyful life throughout their lives, and so we focus a lot of energy … on joy for our clients, joy for our caregivers, joy for our staff. And for us as a brand that’s very important.”
Bryan, who owns 13 Comfort Keepers locations in Maryland and Virginia and one that straddles a portion of Ohio and West Virginia, said the brand promise of elevating the human spirit was an initial attractor and the performance of his business has kept him coming back.
Bryan acquired the Comfort Keepers operations in Dunkirk, Maryland, as part of the refranchising initiative and said he’s encouraged by adjustments made under Halifax.
“What we’re seeing now is an incredible investment in learning and development. The training programs that have been built are absolutely exceptional,” he said, particularly for caregivers. A new training platform, ElevateU, gamified the experience and has proven especially impactful in its ability to engage caregivers.
“I feel like they’re helping me make my office team much, much stronger,” he added.
Elsewhere on the technology front, a transition from WellSky to Viv as an operating platform is a “huge leap forward,” Bryan said, and will provide franchisees with more control and visibility into their businesses.
Even as technology becomes an increasingly important component within the senior care segment, Bryan emphasized the business is “100 percent human,” and Comfort Keepers corporate and franchisees alike must continually funnel resources to recruiting and retaining caregivers.
The United States is facing a nationwide caregiver shortage, and Comfort Keepers is competing for its labor force not just with other home care franchises such as Home Instead Senior Care and Right at Home, but other healthcare companies.
The biggest challenge, noted Bryan, is finding people who live up to the brand’s—and his organization’s—standards. He’s making investments in onboarding and orientation programs to ensure caregivers are better prepared when they go out for that first shift.
Back at corporate, Black agreed that while there’s “incredible demand” for the range of in-home and specialized care Comfort Keepers offers, “there’s a lot of new competition.” She and her team, however, are excited by the growth prospects, and with the backing from Halifax she said the company is in an advantageous position to excel.
