CVS Wins Omnicare Auction

Omnicare Inc. (NYSE: OCR) put itself on the market in April, with bids due in May. At the time, its market value was estimated to be about $8.5 billion. CVS Health Corp. (NYSE: CVS), Express Scripts Holding Co. (NASDAQ: ESRX), McKesson Corp. (NYSE: MCK) and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. (NASDAQ: WBA) were expected to kick the tires. Last week, CVS won the deal with $12.7 billion, including $2.3 billion in debt. Omnicare’s big draw is its specialty pharmaceutical business focused on assisted living and long-term care facilities. The deal follows UnitedHealth Group’s (NYSE: UNH) $12.8 billion acquisition of pharmacy benefits manager Catamaran Corp. (NASDAQ: CTRX) in March and Rite Aid... Read More »

Doctors Groups on an M&A Hot Streak

Interest in physician medical groups is reaching a boiling point in 2015, with 36 transactions announced as of May 22. Nine announcements were made in May alone, including last week’s deal for the 276-physician Chidren’s and Women’s Physicians of Westchester, by Boston Children’s Hospital. Contrast that with 2014’s total of 60 acquisitions, and 2015 is shaping up to be an interesting year. The big players—IPC Healthcare (NASDAQ: IPCM), MEDNAX (NYSE: MD) and TeamHealth Holdings (NYSE: TMH)—are still leading the field in the number of acquisitions, but there several other companies making inroads. Check out the chart below.  Read More »

Fast Start for Persivia

A week after announcing its formation, privately held Persivia made its first acquisition. The Lowell, Massachusetts-based company, which focuses on population health, precision medical and chronic care management solutions, purchased Alere Analytics, which developed its own real-time Clinical Decision Support and Chronic Care management technologies. More acquisitions may be forthcoming, but for now, the Alere Analytics platform is expected to create “groundbreaking advancements” in chronic care management. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Read More »

FastMed Urgent Care Goes to ABRY Partners

Yet another major transaction for an urgent care provider was announced last week, as Comvest Partners sold its interest in FastMed Urgent Care to ABRY Partners, for an undisclosed price. FastMed is the second largest independent urgent care organization in the United States, with 52 clinics in North Carolina and 35 in Arizona. In April, UnitedHealth Group’s Optum (NYSE: UNH) paid an undisclosed sum for MedExpress, which operates 141 full-service neighborhood medical centers in 11 states. The month before that, Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) sold its urgent care subsidiary Concentra Inc. to a joint venture formed by Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe and Select Medical Corporation (NYSE: SEM)... Read More »