Sean Kell

Seattle-based A Place for Mom is being sold to technology investment firm Silver Lake and global growth equity firm General Atlantic by its current investor, growth private equity firm Warburg Pincus, the companies announced Wednesday.

Silver Lake, based in Menlo Park, CA, and General Atlantic, in New York City, will own equal stakes in A Place for Mom and will add two representatives to the senior living referral service’s board of directors. A Place for Mom will continue to be led by CEO Sean Kell and the company’s management team members, who will remain shareholders in the business.

Other details of the transaction were not disclosed.

“We are proud of the progress we have achieved together with our valued network of senior living community partners and through our partnership with Warburg Pincus,” Kell said in a statement. “General Atlantic and Silver Lake both have proven track records of partnering with high-growth companies and will add considerable strategic value as we aim to expand our capabilities to serve the needs of both our families and network of senior living providers.”

The 17-year-old company said it hopes to expand its service offering across the senior living continuum to provide better access, coordination and quality of care for the families it serves. In addition, A Place for Mom said it expects to make additional investments in its technology platform, including in cloud-based initiatives and advanced data collection and analytics.

A Place for Mom said it currently works with more than 18,500 U.S. and Canadian senior living communities, although some operators are trying to rely more on referrals from residents and their websites in an effort to save on fees paid to referral services.

For instance, Five Star Senior Living Chief Operating Officer Scott Herzig told participants in an earnings call earlier this year that the company’s website now accounts for almost 17% of move-ins, up 29% year-over-year. “Conversely, move-ins from A Place for Mom are down to less than 5% of our total move-ins, which is down 47% from the year ago,” he added.

A Place for Mom, which offers its services at no charge to families, said it helped more than 275,000 families last year.