Since July, we’ve seen several headlines in the trades regarding deal making activity in various healthcare sectors. We’ve also attended several conferences and forums focused on healthcare deal making. What we hear at those conferences is usually closer to the truth than what we’ve read. It may be all about the methodology, but here’s our take on overall deal volume and value in 2017, through August 31.
Last year, 2016, set a new record in overall deal volume among the 13 sectors we track in our Deal Search Online database. The combined total of deals for last year stands at 1,568, only 2% greater than the 1,530 announced in 2015.
This year could be even better, if you can believe it. Through the end of August, 1,006 transactions have been made public. That figure represents a 16% gain compared with the 868 deals announced in the same period in 2016.
The same is true for combined dollar volume. In the first eight months of 2017, $188.4 billion has been committed to healthcare deals in total. That’s also up 16%, compared with the same eight months last year.
We’re almost to the end of the third quarter, which hasn’t felt very active. It will be interesting to see how this Q3 stacks up against Q3:16 and earlier. Keep cool and stay tuned.
