Physician Medical Group Deals Stayed Strong in Q1:18

Physician Medical Group Deals Stayed Strong in Q1:18

Physician medical group M&A activity was strong in the first quarter of 2018, according to new acquisition data from HealthCareMandA.com. The number of physician medical group acquisitions increased to 36 in the first quarter, up 9% from the 33 publicly announced acquisitions in the fourth quarter of 2017. Compared with the year-earlier quarter, when a recent record of 59 deals were reported, deal activity was down 39%. None of the transactions disclosed a purchase price. The most prolific buyers were MEDNAX, Inc. (NYSE: MD) and Eye Health South with three acquisitions each, followed by Anne Arundel Dermatology, Gauge Capital, Platinum Dermatology and Team Health, with two deals each.... Read More »
Physician Medical Group Deals Stayed Strong in Q1:18

Dermatology Deals Keep PE Platforms Growing

The Physician Medical Group sector has been very busy in recent years, as hospitals and health systems acquire local practices that can produce referrals and private equity firms build platforms and make add-on deals. Dermatology practices aren’t coveted by hospitals, so it’s the private equity firms that are doing the collecting. In the first eight weeks of 2018, 17 deals for physician medical groups have been annouced, 10 in Janaury and seven in the first three weeks of February. The usual specialty practices were represented in that mix, with Mednax (NYSE: MD) adding a neonatology practice in California, Minnesota-based not-for-profit Fairview Health Services acquiring a... Read More »

PE Firms Flock to Dermatology Deals

Dermatology practices remain high on the list of healthcare sectors for private equity investors. Through mid-March, 2017, 12 deals targeting these practices have been announced by eight acquirers. All those acquirers are either private equity firms, or portfolio companies. Thanks to the private nature of these transactions, no financial terms have been publicly disclosed. Of the 17 dermatology deals announced in 2016, six acquirers were private equity firms and five were portfolio companies. Some big deals (even without disclosing prices) announced last year include Harvest Partners’ acquisition of Advanced Dermatology and Cosmetic Surgery from Audax Group, in May... Read More »

Sterling Partners Expands into Ophthalmology

Sterling Partners, a Chicago-based private equity firm, added the first ophthalmology practice to its healthcare services portfolio with the acquisition of Grand Rapids Ophthalmology. GRO is the first eye care provider to join Great Lakes Management Services Organization, a practice management services organization formed by Sterling to support GRO’s local expansion and larger-scale growth. GRO offers a full suite of eye care services including optometry, retail optical, oculoplastics, cataract surgery and retinal sub-specialties. It employs 11 ophthalmologists and 18 optometrists in 11 locations. Sterling Partners has been busy building up platforms in other areas of healthcare services,... Read More »

January Deal Volume Beats December 2016 and January 2016

The year got off to a good start, as far as mergers and acquisitions are concerned. Deal volume reached 156 transactions in January, up 19% compared with December 2016, and up 50% over January 2016. It’s easy to point to the annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, held in January, as the cause of the sudden boost, particularly in the Biotechnology and eHealth sectors. But the conference didn’t have the same effect last January, when just 104 deals were reported, and those two sectors didn’t see comparable deal volume. If anything, deal volume might have been expected to decline, considering all the “repeal and replace” talk from the incoming Republican administration. That obviously... Read More »