Atlanta firm finds niche as funeral home broker

When Barry Miller decided to leave the insurance business a couple years ago and buy a funeral home, he knew where to turn to find an available property and a way to buy it.

NewBridge Group, an Atlanta merger and acquisition consultancy, located two funeral homes for sale in Rome, then provided the financing to complete the purchase. That allowed Miller to return to an industry he'd worked in since his youth.

"In today's economy, I don't know of any bank that's loaning money to buy funeral homes," said Miller, owner of McGuire, Jennings & Miller chapels.

Enter NewBridge Group, an unusual M&A firm that deals exclusively in the buying, selling and financing of funeral homes. It is one of only about a handful nationwide that do so, most with a regional focus.

Founded in 1999, the company spent the first three years brokering insurance agency sales before president Jeff Boutwell chose to specialize in funeral homes.

The 10-member firm completes about 10 to 15 transactions a year, with the average funeral home selling for about $1 million. It also provides post-sale support services to buyers  including budgeting, management and marketing.

Along the way, NewBridge Group has bankrolled 30 to 40 purchases in the last seven years, with up to 100 percent financing, Boutwell said.

"We started that out of necessity," said Boutwell, adding that many would-be purchasers couldn't otherwise obtain financing.

NewBridge Group didn't have to turn to funeral homes, but Boutwell had bought and sold funeral homes along with cell phone towers, software companies and other businesses in previous positions.

"But I've always come back to the funeral business," he said.

There are about 20,000 funeral homes in the U.S. and Boutwell said the firm maintains a database of 500 individuals who would like to own a funeral home.

Besides the unique business niche the industry provides, Boutwell said he appreciates funeral home owners and their work, citing their "compassion" and the reality of having a job where you're always on call.