Carriage Services expands into Knoxville with 120-year-old funeral home acquisition

What's the deal? Carriage ServicesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → (NYSE: CSV), a Houston-based funeral and cemetery operator, has acquired substantially all the assets of McCammon Ammons Click Funeral Home in Maryville, Tennessee. The deal marks Carriage's entry into the greater Knoxville market. No financial terms were disclosed.

McCammon Ammons Click has served the Knoxville area for more than 120 years. The acquisition adds to Carriage's growing Tennessee presence.

Why now? The deal stems from succession planning by the funeral home's owners. Donnie Poteet, speaking on behalf of the sellers, said the focus was on "finding someone who not only would protect the legacy that has been established over all these years, but also build upon that legacy."

Steve Metzger, Carriage's president and chief operating officer, called the Knoxville market "growing" and said the acquisition "aligns well with our focus on purposeful growth."

The signal: Carriage Services' push into Knoxville underscores how publicly traded consolidators continue to hoover up independent funeral homes as founding families age out. With 155 funeral homes now across 24 states, the mature-stage deathcare provider is methodically filling geographic gaps in a sector where succession-driven dealflow shows few signs of slowing.

Read more: globenewswire.com