Private equity (PE) interest in healthcare M&A has remained robust in 2025. This heightened interest is driven by a favorable investment climate bolstered by the Federal Reserve’s recent decision to lower the federal funds rate to 4–4.25%. There is also a market shift toward a more investor-friendly environment due to legislative changes like the One Big Beautiful Bill’s impact on Medicare. PE’s activity is noted by firms’ strategic expansion into burgeoning sectors markets such as digital health, specialty pharmacy and in-home care.
In the first three quarters of 2025, a total of 507 transactions were announced by a PE firm or a portfolio company. This represents an approximate 33% of the 1,559 total healthcare deals announced so far this year. The PE volume of 2025 is on par with the same 2024 time frame when 532 transactions were reported by a PE-backer, accounting for 34% of the 1,544 healthcare deals announced.
Purchase prices totaled more than $32.3 billion across 31 transactions. Compared to the first nine months of 2024, which totaled more than $35.1 billion across 36 deals, this is a decrease in disclosed spending.
The largest purchase price of 2025 is Sycamore Partners’ acquisition of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. The price was disclosed as more than $9.8 billion. Following the close of the deal, Walgreens will be taken private and will no longer be publicly traded. With the closing of this transaction, Walgreens’ subsidiaries, The Boots Group, Shields Health Solutions, CareCentrix and VillageMD, will be spun out and operate as separate businesses.
Approximately 35% of PE-backed transactions of 2025 have been in the Physician Medical Group (PMG) sector with 175 deals. This is an 18% decrease from 2024 when 214 PE-backed PMG deals were announced. The PMG sector remains a popular market for PE investors because it is highly fragmented with a myriad of investment opportunities. In some ways, the PMG market is recession resistant because of the sustained demand from an aging population that will always require care.
There was also a large PE presence in the eHealth sector, accounting for 76 transactions since the start of the year. This is essentially level with the first nine months of 2024 when 78 eHealth deals were reported. Popular specialties in 2025 include revenue cycle management (25 deals), patient engagement (12 deals) and medical practice management software (11 deals).
Behavioral Health Care (BHC), the third most active specialty for PE buyers, accounted for 28 of the acquisitions. This marks a notable increase from 2024 when 18 BHC transactions were reported in the first three quarters. The most active specialty of 2025 is counseling & psychiatric care with 12 deals. Autism spectrum disorder treatment provider is the second most active with five transactions.
Some of the more active PE buyers since the start of 2025 include Warburg Pincus (11 acquisitions), Jordan Company (10 acquisitions), Shore Capital Partners (10 acquisitions) and Pantheon Ventures (10 acquisitions).
To spotlight the recent trend of expanding into new markets and broadening capabilities across multiple healthcare verticals, here is light exploration of the divestment and acquisition activity of several PE firms whose activity diverged from its norm.
Charlesbank Capital Partners
Charlesbank Capital Partners announced 12 transactions in 2025; 11 of them were done through its portfolio company, MB2 Dental Solutions, which is also backed by Warburg Pincus.
In addition to its dental acquisitions, Charlesbank also reported one eHealth acquisition. In July, symplr, a portfolio company of Clearlake Capital Group and Charlesbank Capital Partners, announced that it acquired AMN Healthcare‘s Smart Square scheduling software. This transaction falls into the medical practice management software specialty.
symplr offers governance, risk and compliance and software-as-a-solution platforms that help healthcare organizations mitigate risk and ensure compliance.
The Smart Square scheduling software combines predictive analytics with simple scheduling functionality and analytics. AMN Healthcare provides healthcare workforce solutions and staffing services for healthcare organizations across the United States.
This transaction marks a deviation from Charlesbank’s past patterns and could indicate a desire to diversify its portfolio because of the increasing dominance and importance of digital health. The addition of the ehealth company will bolster Charlesbank’s medical software management and benefit its current and future dental portfolio.
Waud Capital Partners
One of the most active PE firms in 2025 is Waud Capital Partners, which manages teams to acquire or create platforms in the lower middle market. It has announced nine transactions since the start of the year.
Through its portfolio companies, Ivy Rehab and Ivy Rehab for Kids, Waud has expanded its rehabilitation network by eight locations across New Jersey, Michigan, Pennsylvania and North Carolina.
Founded in 2003, Ivy Rehab is a network of outpatient physical, occupational and speech therapy and applied behavior analysis clinics throughout the United States. Ivy Rehab for Kids is a subsidiary of Ivy Rehab.
In January, Waud purchased Mopec Group, a maker of anatomic and forensic pathology equipment, technology and consumable products, from Blackford Capital. This transaction is unusual for Waud as it pushes the company into new markets with the addition of contract development manufacturing capabilities.
Also pushing Waud into new territories was its April acquisition of MedTec Healthcare, which provides in-home care services designed to help clients maintain their independence. The original deal press release notes that this acquisition represents a significant milestone in Waud’s strategy to build a platform in home-based care services through its newly formed holding company, Altocare.
Furthermore, in November 2024, Waud divested of GI Alliance, a physician-led and majority physician-owned GI practice management company providing services to more than 900 independent gastroenterologists in 345 practice locations across the country. The buyer was Cardinal Health and the price was $2.8 billion.
The firms’ recent activity indicates Waud may be shifting its focus from historically active areas like gastroenterology and PMGs to the eHealth and Rehabilitation markets, which present stronger growth prospects.
NMS Capital
Throughout 2025, NMS Capital reported two acquisitions and one divestment. Although it is not the most active of the PE buyers, NMS is one of the few firms both purchased and sold companies in 2025. Based in New York City and Dallas, NMS is a PE firm that manages more than $1.4 billion in assets.
In January, through NMS’ portfolio company CORDENTAL Group, it added Williamsburg Dental to its network. Williamsburg Dental is a provider of aesthetic and general dentistry services, located in Broomall, Pennsylvania. According to data captured from LevinPro HC, the acquisition represents CORDENTAL’s first partnership in Pennsylvania, highlighting the company’s expanding presence.
In February, Strive Medical, a portfolio company of NMS since 2020, acquired Charles Pharmacy & Surgical, a pharmacy and durable medical equipment provider of diabetes supplies based in New York City. This enables NMS to scale Strive’s revenue through geographic diversification and service expansion.
NMS reported in April that it was selling U.S. Urology Partners to General Atlantic. NMS formed U.S. Urology Partners in 2018 through an investment in a single market group practice. Since then, it has grown U.S. Urology Partners to a large network with more than 180 providers operating out of 50 locations across five states.
Additionally, in September 2024, NMS sold Flourish Research, a clinical trials company, to Genstar Capital. The original deal press release highlights NMS’s contributions during its ownership of Flourish. NMS supported a significant build-out of infrastructure and technology, recruited key management personnel and executed eleven strategic acquisitions, resulting in a more than tenfold increase in revenue.
NMS’s recent activity signals a strategic shift away from the acquisition front. By divesting fully-realized assets, the firm is likely capitalizing on favorable market conditions to maximize returns for its investors. This disciplined exit strategy allows NMS to redirect its capital and operational expertise toward strengthening its remaining portfolio companies.
GTCR
On the flip side, GTCR seems to be entering the acquisition market at a robust speed. In total, it reported an involvement with three acquisitions and one divestment.
Founded in 1980, GTCR is a PE firm focused on investing in growth companies in the business and consumer services, financial services and technology, healthcare and technology and media and telecommunications industries. GTCR has invested more than $30 billion in more than 290 companies, and the firm currently manages more than $50 billion in equity capital.
In May, the company announced that it was selling Antylia Scientific to Brookfield Asset Management and Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec for $1.34 billion.
Antylia is a diversified life sciences company focused on the biopharmaceutical, clinical diagnostic and environmental testing industries. GTCR initially invested in Antylia in November 2019.
Brookfield Asset Management is a Canadian-American alternative asset manager with more than $900 billion of assets under management. Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec is an investment firm based in Quebec City, Canada. The firm is active in the major financial markets, PE, infrastructure, real estate and private debt.
Through its portfolio company, Maravai LifeSciences, GTCR purchased Molecular Assemblies‘ assets. Molecular Assemblies is a private life sciences company developing an enzymatic DNA synthesis technology designed to power the next generation of DNA-based products. The purchase price was $11.2 million and marks the only transaction reported through one of GTCR’s portfolio companies in 2025, so far.
However, GTCR did directly acquire two other organizations.
In September, GTCR acquired Dentalcorp, one of North America’s largest networks of dental practices, for $1.58 billion. This marks GTCR’s expansion into the dental space, highlighting just how lucrative and competitive the PMG landscape is for investors. It also provides the opportunity for roll-up acquisitions to further capitalize on potential consolidation in the dental field.
Also in September, GTCR acquired Zentiva from Advent International for an undisclosed price. Zentiva is a European generics pharmaceutical company with a focus on developing, producing and delivering affordable medicines. It serves more than 100 people across 30 countries.
This represents GTCR’s first pharmaceutical acquisition. Previously, the firm has been active in the Life Sciences R&D, Laboratories, Medical Devices and Biotechnology sectors. With the addition of a pharmaceutical company, the firm is rounding out its production capabilities and medical technology portfolio.
Advent International
Advent is a global PE firm focused on buyouts of companies across the globe. As of March 31, 2025, the company oversees more than $94 billion in assets under management. Advent initially purchased Zentiva from Sanofi in 2018.
The Zentiva deal is not the only transaction where Advent acted as a seller in 2025; it also sold Iodine Software, an AI-driven revenue cycle management company, to Waystar, a portfolio company of EQT, CPPIB and Bain Capital. The price was $1.25 billion.
The deal reflects the accelerating consolidation within the healthcare AI space, which is a growing force in the broader eHealth market and continues to present a myriad acquisition opportunities. Advent may further streamline its portfolio by divesting additional pharmaceutical holdings to create room for more eHealth investments.
At the same time, Advent was active on the buy side with its acquisition of PatientPoint, a provider of integrated patient engagement solutions designed to enhance health outcomes at key points of care. The deal reinforces Advent’s increasing focus on the point-of-care market, which is expanding as advertisers shift budgets toward measurable, digital channels. More broadly, it illustrates a wider trend among private equity firms investing in platforms that blend digital health and patient experience to deliver more connected, comprehensive care.
The robust PE activity throughout 2025 underscores healthcare’s enduring appeal driven by favorable financing conditions, regulatory shifts and resilient demand in fragmented markets. As firms diversify into high-growth areas such as digital health and generics pharmaceuticals, the market’s stability piqued PE interest, despite the shifting economic environments of the past several months.
