Stat of the Week: Hospital M&A up 40% in Q4:17

Stat of the Week: Hospital M&A up 40% in Q4:17

by | Jan 19, 2018 10:57 am | Hospitals | 0 comments

Hospital M&A activity accelerated in the fourth quarter of 2017. The number of hospital acquisitions rose to 21 in the fourth quarter, up 40% from the 15 publicly announced acquisitions in the third quarter of 2017. Compared with the same quarter in 2016, which posted 23 transactions, activity was down 9%. None of the transactions disclosed a purchase price in the third quarter of 2017. Four of the deals disclosed prices, for a combined total of $2.82 billion. None of the transactions in the third quarter disclosed a price, although the fourth quarter of 2016 posted a total of $2.31 billion. The largest deal in the quarter was UnitedHealth Group’s (NYSE: UNH) $2.8 billion acquisition... Read More »
Q4:17 Redefined Healthcare M&A

Q4:17 Redefined Healthcare M&A

by | Jan 5, 2018 2:34 pm | Healthcare Market Updates | 0 comments

Despite all the big deals announced in December, the fourth quarter of 2017 wasn’t one for the record books. Merger and acquisition activity was busy, but compared with the previous quarter and the same period in 2016, the pace wasn’t frenetic. Our preliminary data shows 357 transactions were announced in Q4:17, down a slight 4% compared with the third quarter of 2017, and down 8% versus the fourth quarter of 2016. Dollar volume, on the other hand, was quite high. Preliminary data (again) shows nearly $114.3 billion was spent in Q4:17, a 165% gain over Q3:17, and nearly 200% over Q4:16. That total rests largely on the back of a single deal, which you’ve probably heard... Read More »
Hospital Mergers Point to the Future of Health Systems

Hospital Mergers Point to the Future of Health Systems

by | Dec 14, 2017 9:50 pm | Hospitals | 0 comments

Hard on the heels of the merger announcement between Dignity Health and Catholic Health Initiatives  came the news that Ascension Health and Providence St. Joseph Health were in their own talks to merge. The Dignity/CHI deal will create a 139-hospital system spanning 28 states, with revenue of more than $28 billion. If the Ascension/Providence merger is realized, the resulting company would be the largest hospital system, with 191 hospitals in 27 states, and annual revenue of $44.8 billion. By contrast, the current largest system, for-profit HCA (NYSE: HCA), has approximately 175 hospitals and revenue of $42.7 billion. Even if the Ascension/Providence deal doesn’t go through, the... Read More »
Stat of the Week: Hospital M&A up 40% in Q4:17

Stat of the Week: November Deal Volume -30%

by | Dec 8, 2017 7:50 pm | Healthcare Market Updates | 0 comments

Perhaps it was the anticipation of the Thanksgiving holiday, or the holiday itself, that caused the sudden slump in deal volume. Too much turkey, too little focus on finishing up those transactions? Or we could blame the Republicans’ mad dash to pass their tax “reform” legislation before the end of the year. Both houses of Congress have passed separate versions of the bill, and are presently reconciling those into one, for a final vote. How that will look at the other end of the sausage machine is anyone’s guess, but once the bill is passed, we may see the floodgates open on pent-up demand in the more global sectors, such as Medical Devices and Pharmaceuticals. This is preliminary data, of... Read More »

The FTC’s Recent Losses in Hospital M&A

by | Jun 22, 2016 7:35 pm | Hospitals, Physician Medical Groups | 0 comments

The Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust unit has been very active in the health care sector in recent years, thanks in part to the steady beat of hospital mergers and acquisitions taking place. In 2015, 102 hospital transactions were announced, up slightly from 99 the year before. Halfway through 2016, we’ve recorded 48 hospital deals, which is keeping pace with the two previous years. The FTC challenged a few of those deals, including the NorthShore University Hospital/Advocate Health Care merger in Chicago and the Penn State Hershey Medical Center/PinnacleHealth System in Pennsylvania. The agency has notched up some significant wins in years past, most recently the December... Read More »