The jitters that rocked the U.S. equity markets in December 2018 took a toll on healthcare mergers and acquisitions. Deal volume slowed considerably, dropping 18% from the previous month, and landing 10% lower than a year ago.
On a year-over-year basis, most of the services sectors posted losses. Managed Care (-75%), Rehabilitation (-67%), Hospitals (-64%) and Behavioral Health Care (-60%) led the way. Other Services, which includes urgent care and ambulatory surgery centers, went in the opposite direction. The sector posted a healthy posting a healthy 58% gain over the previous December’s total.
The technology sectors caught the same chill, with the exception of eHealth (+70% yoy). Pharmaceutical deals dropped 50% in December 2018, compared with the same month a year earlier. Overall, pharma deals picked up in 2018 (+34% in our preliminary results), but the final month ended on a sour note for the sector.
We’ll have more results and analysis next week, when the January 2019 issue of Health Care M&A News is published. Stay tuned.
