IBM Pays $1 Billion to Help Watson ‘See’
Last April, IBM (NYSE: IBM) rocked the Big Data world with the announcement that its supercomputer, called Watson, would be the center of its new Watson Health unit. At the same time, it announced the acquisitions of Phytel, a population health platform, and Explorys, a cloud-based healthcare intelligence company, to launch the effort. Last week, Watson got some “eyes,” as IBM announced its third and largest transaction (prices were not disclosed for the previous two). It plans to acquire medical imaging management firm Merge Healthcare Inc. (NASDAQ: MRGE) for $7.13 per share in cash, for a total transaction value of $1 billion. Merge’s technology platforms are used at more than 7,500 U.S.... Read More »Deal Volume Rose in July
July’s combined transaction total hit 127 deals, up 2% compared with the bang-up month of July 2014, which had 124 transactions. The Services sector had a strong performance, accounting for 60% of deal volume. Long-Term Care made up 27% of the volume overall with 34 announced transactions. That equalled the record set last July for the sector, and will probably break it as more deals come to light. The Managed Care sector posted some extra activity, although seven deals versus two deals the month prior and a year ago isn’t moving the needle very high. July 2015 DealsShare of Total Services Behavioral Health Care32% Home Health & Hospice23% Hospitals76% Labs, MRI & Dialysis43%... Read More »LifePoint Takes 2 Hospitals For-Profit
LifePoint Health, Inc. (NASDAQ: LPNT) last week announced two deals for smaller community hospitals that turned the not-for-profit entities into local tax payers. One was Fleming County Hospital (52 beds) in Flemingsburg, Kentucky. The other was an acquisition conducted via a joint venture with Norton Healthcare, called Regional Health Network of Kentucky and Southern Indiana. The JV acquired 241-bed Clark Memorial Hospital in Jeffersonville, Indiana, with a capital commitment of at least $80 million over the next five years. The local county councils are thrilled to move these not-for-profits into the tax base, no doubt. Meanwhile, the mood in other parts of the country is to sue the... Read More »Team Health Pays $1.6 Billion for Hospitalists
The $1.6 billion acquisition of IPC Healthcare (NASDAQ: IPCM) by Team Health Holdings (NYSE: TMH), announced last week, was just the latest—and, yes, the biggest—in a stream of transactions targeting physician medical groups. The deal vaults Team Health to a leading position in the increasingly strategic post-acute setting, and effectively positions the company to capitalize on CMS’ migration to value-based, bundled payments, with the combined companies set to manage some $2 billion in Medicare spending. The risk, of course, is that the company will depend on government payors for more than half of their patients, and self-pay patients for another 15% of reimbursement. And with hospital... Read More »Schedule a demo
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