No. 5: Brightli, Centerstone merger creates largest US behavioral health provider at $1B

A Nov. 1 merger of Springfield-based Brightli Inc. and Nashville, Tennessee-based Centerstone created the nation’s largest behavioral health services nonprofit on the basis of revenue.

Brightli, the parent company of Burrell Behavioral Health, and Centerstone announced the agreement in July, later determining the merged organization would use the Centerstone name.

The new organization’s annual revenue is estimated at $1.1 billion, which made the nonprofit the first of its type to reach that revenue level, according to Rance Burger, director of media and public relations for the company. He added that about $550 million of that total came from Brightli.

Prior to the merger, Brightli had 220 locations and some 6,000 employees, while Centerstone had 140 locations and 4,300 employees working domestically and an international network of 1,500 more.

The combined Centerstone serves roughly 250,000 patients annually at 360 outpatient, inpatient and residential locations in nine states.

Company officials, declining to disclose financial terms of the deal, called the partnership “a merger of equals.”

“These are two very well-known, well-respected organizations in our space,” Centerstone CEO David Guth Jr. said. “We still feel that we’ve been under-scaled for the opportunities that sit in front of behavioral health today.”

Guth is scheduled to retire in 2027, at which time Brightli CEO C.J. Davis will become head of the combined organization. Davis is currently serving as CEO-elect of Centerstone.

Both organizations have built up over time. Brightli is the product of 25 mergers – 10 of those amassed during Davis’ eight years at the helm of Burrell, then Brightli – and Centerstone brings 20 more to the table.

“It’s interesting, because between Brightli and Centerstone, I think we’ve got 45 legacy organizations,” Guth said, referring to the nonprofits consolidated into each through the M&A process.

Twenty years ago, Davis said, he met Guth at a conference, where he was speaking on the topic of going big or going home.

“I thought, wow, what a concept, to grow a community mental health center through strategic partnerships,” Davis said.

The two stayed in touch, and in January 2024, Guth reached out to Davis to ask if he would be open to a conversation about a merger.