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Acquisitions
 3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2014
Business Combinations [Abstract]  
ACQUISITIONS
ACQUISITIONS
Our growth strategy includes the execution of our Strategic Acquisition Model. We assess acquisition candidates using six strategic ranking criteria to differentiate the price we are willing to pay under a discounted cash flow methodology. Those criteria are:
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size of business;
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size of market;
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competitive standing;
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local market demographics;
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strength of brand; and
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barriers to entry.
There were no business acquisitions during the first quarter of 2014. We acquired land for approximately $6.0 million during the first quarter of 2013 for funeral home expansion projects.
On March 3, 2014, certain of our subsidiaries entered into an Asset Sale Agreement with certain subsidiaries of Service Corporation International (“SCI”) to acquire four funeral businesses and one cemetery business in the New Orleans, Louisiana region and two funeral businesses in the Northern Virginia region for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $54.9 million (the “SCI Acquisition”). Under the Asset Sale Agreement, we will acquire the properties, leasehold interests, assets and rights and assume certain liabilities of the businesses being acquired. The closing of the SCI Acquisition is subject to certain customary closing conditions, including, but not limited to, approval by the Federal Trade Commission. We currently anticipate that the SCI Acquisition will close in the second quarter of 2014.