Partnership will accelerate Elara’s growth and evolution as home health care leader; expand access to high-acuity care for complex diseases through new offerings

Elara Caring (Elara), a leading national provider of skilled home health, hospice, behavioral health, and personal care services, today announced that it has entered into an agreement for a strategic investment from Ares’ Private Equity Group (Ares) and DaVita. The investment is intended to expand access to personalized, clinically advanced care at home for patients with complex and acute needs. Elara will continue to operate as a wholly independent company led by CEO Ananth Mohan and the current management team. Following the closing, the parties will collaborate to help Elara expand access to care through new care models and clinical programs.

The investment from Ares and DaVita will support Elara’s next phase of growth by helping to expand its capacity to deliver specialized, in-home care and launch innovative care models. With Ares’ experience growing high-performing healthcare businesses and DaVita’s clinical and operational expertise in value-based care, Elara is well positioned to scale programs designed to improve outcomes and address gaps in post-acute care—bringing more consistent support to patients at home.

“Too often, home-based care is introduced late in the care journey, significantly impacting outcomes and quality of life, especially with our vulnerable populations,” said Ananth Mohan, Elara Caring CEO. “This collaboration reflects a shared belief that care should be timelier, more personalized, and meet patients where they are most comfortable—at home. Together with Ares and DaVita, we have an extraordinary opportunity to improve the management of chronic conditions and deliver better results for patients and their loved ones as well as our healthcare system overall. We are thrilled to welcome them as partners.”

“Elara Caring is a leading home care platform defined by a commitment to quality and a patient-first culture,” said Kevin Cox, Partner in Ares’ Private Equity Group. “We’re excited to partner with the Elara team and support their next phase of growth and innovation—expanding access, improving outcomes, and delivering an outstanding experience for patients and team members.”

As a key focus of the investment, DaVita and Elara intend to co‑develop a kidney‑specific home‑based care model. This new model will build upon Elara’s existing clinical capabilities and apply DaVita’s advanced clinical insights to meet the unique needs of patients with kidney disease, seeking to reduce preventable hospitalizations, and helping to lower the total cost of care. The program will seek to offer patients a new pathway to receive high‑quality, tailored support in the comfort of their own homes, and empower providers with a vital resource to ensure high-touch, continuity of care.

“Through our integrated care programs, we saw meaningful differences in patient outcomes that were closely tied to the quality of home‑based support they received,” said Steve Phillips, Chief Strategy Officer of DaVita. “Strengthening access to Elara Caring’s exceptional services will help more patients maintain stability at home, avoid unnecessary hospitalizations, and ultimately experience a better quality of life.”

The closing of the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including receipt of regulatory approvals, and is expected to occur later in 2026. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Harris Williams and Evercore are serving as financial advisors, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP is serving as legal counsel and Debevoise & Plimpton LLP is serving as financing counsel for Elara Caring. Guggenheim Securities, LLC is serving as financial advisor and Ropes & Gray LLP and McDermott Will & Schulte are serving as legal advisors to Ares and DaVita.

About Elara Caring

Elara Caring is among the nation’s leading providers of high-quality, value-based home care, offering Skilled Home Health, Hospice, Personal Care Services, Behavioral Health, and Palliative Care. With a footprint in 18 states, it serves more than 60,000 patients and clients daily across 200 locations. At Elara, care is delivered by skilled, compassionate professionals dedicated to supporting patients with expertise and empathy. Through care innovation and a commitment to excellence, Elara ensures patients receive the right care when and where they need it most.

About Ares Management

Ares Management Corporation (NYSE: ARES) is a leading global alternative investment manager offering clients complementary primary and secondary investment solutions across the credit, real estate, private equity and infrastructure asset classes. We seek to advance our stakeholders' long-term goals by providing flexible capital that supports businesses and creates value for our investors and within our communities. By collaborating across our investment groups, we aim to generate consistent and attractive investment returns throughout market cycles. As of September 30, 2025, Ares Management Corporation's global platform had over $595 billion of assets under management, with operations across North America, South America, Europe, Asia Pacific and the Middle East. For more information, please visit www.aresmgmt.com.

About DaVita Inc.

DaVita (NYSE: DVA) is a health care provider focused on transforming care delivery to improve quality of life for patients globally. As a comprehensive kidney care provider, DaVita has been a leader in clinical quality and innovation for 25 years. DaVita cares for patients at every stage and setting along their kidney health journey—from slowing the progression of kidney disease to helping to support transplantation, from acute hospital care to dialysis at home. As of September 30, 2025, DaVita served approximately 293,200 patients at 3,247 outpatient dialysis centers, of which 2,662 centers were located in the United States and 585 centers were located in 14 other countries worldwide. DaVita has reduced hospitalizations, improved mortality, helped improve health access and worked collaboratively to propel the kidney care community to adopt a higher quality standard of care for all patients, everywhere. To learn more, visit DaVita.com/About.

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