Acquisition Outlook for Doc Groups: Wait and See

2015 was a very good year for acquisitions in the Physician Medical Group (PMG) sector. With 88 transactions in total, deal volume was up 47% compared with 2014. The sector’s largest deal, Team Health’s (NYSE: TMH) $1.6 billion acquisition of IPC Healthcare, combined two of the sector’s top acquirers (see chart below). That deal closed in November 2015. Since then, things have gone very quiet in the PMG sector. The fourth quarter of 2015 closed with 22 deals for doc groups, beating the third quarter’s 19 deals and Q4:14’s 17 deals. So far this year, only five transactions have been made public, compared with 12 in the same period a year ago. At least a portion... Read More »

Biggest Health Care Deals in January 2016

The pace of health care mergers and acquisitions slowed considerably in January 2016. In part, that’s due to the rush to get business off the books by the end of the calendar year, which is why fourth quarters are usually so busy. This year we’ve counted about 95 transactions announced in January, which is 32% lower than December 2015’s total, and 29% below January 2014. Thanks to Shire plc’s (NASDAQ: SHPG) $32 billion deal for Baxalta Inc. (NYSE: BXLT), spending in the month handily beat those previous months. But who would’ve thought a behavioral health care deal would rank as the month’s second largest deal? Check out the chart below. We’ll have... Read More »

Hospital M&A Revs Up in February

Two days into February 2016 and we’ve recorded four hospital transactions. Considering there were only two in all of January, this action is impressive. One was a straight real estate deal from Carter Validus Mission Critical REIT II, Inc., which paid $33.9 million for Sherman, Texas-based Heritage Park Surgical Hospital and Visionary Medical Imaging. Both facilities were built in 2005. The hospital has 57,576 square feet, and was renovated in 2010 to become a full-service surgical hospital. VMI is an 8,055 square foot facility. The deal actually closed in November 2015, but wasn’t announced until now. Larkin Community Hospital, a for-profit, 146-bed hospital in South Miami,... Read More »

Point-of-Care Diagnostics Company Commands $5.8 Billion

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) may be known for its branded generic pharmaceuticals, but it just boosted its diagnostics division with the $5.8 billion acquisition of Alere Inc. (NYSE: ALR). Alere provides point-of care diagnostics and services for the infectious disease, cardiometabolic disease, and toxicology in the United States and worldwide. Abbott will pay $56 per common share, representing a 51% premium to Alere’s closing price on Friday, January 28, 2016. Abbott will also assume or refinance Alere’s $2.6 billion debt. Back in July 2015, Alere paid $60 million for US Diagnostics. It made a larger, $270 million deal for eScreen, Inc. in March 2012. The combination of... Read More »