Club Staffing, a leading independent U.S. allied health-care staffing company in Boca Raton, has sold itself to a San Francisco-based private equity firm's portfolio holding.

Nursefinders Inc., a subsidiary of Gryphon Investors, bought Club Staffing on Tuesday for an undisclosed amount. The combined companies will have $300 million in revenues and more than 110 offices nationwide.

Club Staffing, which was founded in 1999, provides rehabilitation, radiology, respiratory, pharmacy and laboratory professionals to more than 1,000 health-care facilities. Nursefinders, based in Arlington, Texas, offers comprehensive health-care staffing services and is the largest provider of vendor management services to the health-care industry.

"It's an acquisition that hit the bull's-eye of what Gryphon was looking for," said Ray Marcy, executive chairman of Nursefinders Inc. Marcy, who also served as CEO for Fort Lauderdale-based Spherion Corporation from 1991 to 2001, said purchasing Club Staffing allows Nursefinders and Gryphon to diversify and grow.

Nursefinders' buyout of Club Staffing is the latest example of a consolidation and growth trend in the health-care staffing industry.

The $10.5 billion industry has experienced nearly 40 mergers and acquisitions in both 2004 and 2005, and the sector expected to grow revenues 5 percent, according to the Staffing Industry Analysts, an independent staffing research firm based in California.

But the company will continue to operate under three brands: Nursefinders, Club Staffing and Linde Healthcare/Kendall and Davis.

"Within our brand, nothing is going to change," Club Staffing Chief Executive Officer Larry Kraska said. "The acquisition, from our perspective, is all about growth."

Club Staffing, which has about 70 employees at its new corporate headquarters in Boca Raton's Park of Commerce, is working to double its employees and resources in the next three to five years, he said. Kraska will continue in his role and will report to Marcy.

Gryphon Investors and Marcy have worked jointly since 2003 in pursuing investment opportunities in professional staffing. Together with Kaiser Permanente, America's leading integrated health-care organization, Gryphon and Marcy acquired Nursefinders Inc. in '04 and Linde Healthcare/Kendall and Davis in '05.

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By Jaclyn Giovis
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Jaclyn Giovis can be reached at jmgiovis@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4668.

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