M&A activity in the Physician Medical Group (PMG) sector rose to 130 transactions in Q3:25, according to data captured in the LevinPro HC database. This activity marks a 9% increase from the 119 transactions reported in the second quarter of 2025 and a 13% increase from Q3:24 when 115 PMG transactions were announced.
Interest in dental practices drove a significant amount of the deal volume, accounting for 66 transactions, or just more than 50%. The dental deal volume of Q3:25 is slightly more than that of Q3:24 when 63 dental deals were announced. Other active subsectors include orthopaedic (nine deals), eye care (eight deals) and dermatology (eight deals). Oncology, with one deal in Q3:25, dropped notably from the third quarter of 2024 when seven deals were announced.
Private equity firms and their sponsored platforms remain the most active investors in the PMG market, accounting for 48% of transactions. This is a small decrease from Q3:24 when more than 52% of PMG acquisitions were completed by a private equity firm. Independent physician group buyers announced 27 transactions, with a large focus on the pediatrics specialty (six deals).
Health systems were also in the market for physician groups, announcing eight acquisitions across seven states. Practices focused on orthopaedic were a major draw for large health systems like Atrium Health and Novant Health, primarily driven by an aging population that requires orthopaedic care.
Specialized Dental Partners, backed by Quad-C Management, and Phase 1 Equity, backed by DuneGlass Capital, were the most active buyers in the third quarter of 2025 with five transactions each. Specialized Dental Partners strengthened its presence in Colorado, North Carolina, Minnesota and Illinois, adding five physicians to its network. Throughout the quarter, Phase 1 Equity expanded its presence across New Jersey, Ohio, California, Pennsylvania and Louisiana. None of the practices were disclosed.
Other active buyers include Leonard Green & Partners’ Epiphany Dermatology (four deals), Dental365 (four deals), Pediatrica Health Group (three deals) and Olympus Partners’ EyeSouth Partners (three deals).
Disclosed spending reached more than $5.7 billion across five transactions, marking an increase from the $3.3 billion announced in Q3:24. It is also a significant increase from Q2:25 when one transaction reported a purchase price of $2.2 million.
The largest purchase price to be announced in the third quarter of the year was the acquisition of Solaris Health by The Specialty Alliance, the management service organization of Cardinal Health. Cardinal Health provided approximately $1.9 billion in cash to The Specialty Alliance to enable the acquisition and will own approximately 75% of The Specialty Alliance after the acquisition of Solaris Health.
“The PMG market’s augmented deal volume signals a notable rebound in healthcare consolidation, with the sector accounting for more than 24% of all healthcare deals announced during the third quarter,” said Kate Humphrey, Editorial Analyst at Irving Levin Associates, which publishes the data on its LevinPro HC platform. “Despite a recent slowdown in acquisition activity, private equity maintains a strong interest in the PMG space, sharpening its focus on roll-up opportunities in the dental, orthopaedic and eye care markets. Across all buyer types, we anticipate a sustained growth going into the final quarter of the year and even into 2026.”
All quarterly results are published in The Health Care M&A Report, which is part of LevinPro HC, a research intelligence platform published by Irving Levin Associates, LLC. For information, or to order the reports, call 800-248-1668. Irving Levin Associates is celebrating more than 70 years of delivering exclusive M&A intelligence to its sophisticated audience of seniors housing and healthcare investors. The company was established in 1948 and has offices in New Canaan, Connecticut and North Bethesda, Maryland. The company publishes research reports and newsletters and maintains databases on the healthcare and senior housing M&A markets.
