Saga Continues for St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children

Saga Continues for St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children

Where there’s a hospital or health system filing for bankruptcy protection, there’s usually a sale in the offing that involves a real estate investment trust. That’s the most recent twist in the story of St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, which we first reported in September 2019. The 188-bed hospital, a critical safety-net hospital for children in North Philadelphia, and Hahnemann University Hospital were sold in September 2018 to California investment banker Joel Freedman, head of American Academic Health System, LLC (AAHS), for $170 million. Hahnemann’s financial troubles prompted Freedman to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for both hospitals on... Read More »

Hospital M&A Outlook

The Hospital sector ended 2019 with 80 transactions in the United States reaching the definitive agreement stage or closing. All told, 99 hospital deals are on the books for the year, which is a 25% increase over 2018’s 79 hospital deals. For the fourth quarter of 2019, 23 transactions reached the definitive agreement stage or closing. That was a 21% decline from the third quarter’s 29 deals, but a 10% gain over the same quarter in 2018. What’s ahead for the Hospital sector in 2020? More of the same, meaning that consolidation among strong regional health systems will continue the trend that began a few years ago. Small standalone hospitals will still push to join a... Read More »
2019’s Biggest Healthcare Deals, by Sector

2019’s Biggest Healthcare Deals, by Sector

2020 has just begun, which means it’s time to look back at the healthcare M&A landscape of 2019. Just three days into the new year, nearly 1,780 deals are already on the books for 2019. More deals will turn up as we search our many sources, but the number likely won’t top the record of 1,900-plus set in 2018. Thanks to the multi-billion-dollar deals announced in the Biotech and Pharmaceutical sectors, 2019 will set a new spending record. Preliminary data show $399.1 billion was spent on healthcare acquisitions last year, about 20% higher than in 2018. We expect that number to rise as we go through the year and the 10Ks and quarterly reports come out. It’s possible the... Read More »
Tenet Sells Two Hospitals for $350 Million

Tenet Sells Two Hospitals for $350 Million

In its first sale of 2019, Tenet Healthcare Corporation (NYSE: THC) is divesting two of its Memphis-area hospitals to Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, which operates six acute-care and one children’s hospital in and around Memphis. The not-for-profit health system will pay $350 million in cash for Saint Francis Hospital-Memphis (353 beds) and Saint Francis Hospital-Bartlett (156 beds), the physician practices associated with both hospitals, and six MedPost urgent care centers. The transaction is expected to be completed in 2020. The agreement provides that Tenet’s Conifer Health Solutions subsidiary will continue to provide revenue cycle management services to the hospitals.... Read More »

U.S. Hospital Deals and Trends, YTD 2019

Winding down to the end of 2019, it’s a good time to take stock of this year’s U.S. hospital M&A market. In mid-November, we have 70 transactions on the books, up 16% compared with the same period in 2018. But 2019 M&A activity has taken a decidedly different path from the deals of 2018. One striking statistic: Just half the number of beds have traded hands in 2019. By this time in 2018, the bed-count in target hospitals was 25,309. In 2019, there are only 12,901 (-49%). In 2018, a few major systems changed hands, which pushed up the bed total. The largest was Apollo Global Management’s $5.6 billion take-private deal for LifePoint Health (formerly NASDAQ: LPNT),... Read More »
U.S. Hospital REIT Deals Surge in 2019

U.S. Hospital REIT Deals Surge in 2019

It’s become an accepted, almost expected, transaction. Privately held hospitals sell their real estate assets to a real estate investment trust (REIT) to get some fresh cash and to focus on operations rather than physical plants. Between 2009 and 2012, REIT deals for U.S. hospitals were announced once or twice a year. The number rose to six per year in 2013, 2015 and 2016 (just three in 2014). After two years of two or three deals annually (2017 and 2018), the number has already reached seven in 2019, with several weeks of deal making left in the year. The most recent deal was announced on November 5, as LifePoint Health agreed to sell the real estate assets of 10 unidentified... Read More »