The record keeps growing. We reported in March that the health care services reported 1,227 deals in 2018. When we updated the data for our new Hospital M&A Acquisition Report, 8th Edition, deal volume moved upward.

Source: HealthCareMandA.com, August 2019

A record 1,232 services deals were announced, which is 19% higher than the previous year and 235% higher than in 2009. Services transactions accounted for 65% of 2018’s total deal volume, slightly higher than the typical range between 58% and 63%. The trend was even stronger in the first half of 2019. Through June 30, a total of 835 deals are on the books, and the services sectors make up 67%.

Spending in healthcare services has been less predictable, if only because the majority of deals are between private entities and organizations and financial terms are not disclosed. In 2018, the combined dollar volume reached $123 billion, the second-highest level ever recorded. It would be a record, except that it followed 2017, which posted $177 billion on services deals.

That’s just one of the new datapoints we discovered about this dynamic market. Check out the report to see what you may have missed.