December 2016 Didn’t Deliver a Year-End Boost

The final month of the fourth quarter is typically a busy one for deal makers in all industries. Last year, some health care deal makers apparently got a rest. Deal volume in December 2016 was an anemic 119 transactions, compared with 131 deals in November and 148 in December 2015. The Services sectors accounted for 55% of the deals in December, which is on the low side. Consider that, in November, Services accounted for 69% of the month’s transactions, and even 70% of the total in December 2015. Spending on those deals reached $15.4 billion, a relatively modest amount until it is compared with November’s $8.7 billion total (+78%) and December 2015’s $12.3 billion total (+26%). Suddenly,... Read More »

Good-Bye, ACA. Now What?

And so it begins. A new year, a new administration, and a foreboding that things can and will go wildly out of control in the healthcare industry, as the new administration dismantles the Affordable Care Act and doesn’t bother to replace it. Judging from the market’s behavior since the November 8 election, the notion that a Hillary Clinton victory was “baked in” to every healthcare deal doesn’t hold. Certainly some deals may have been put on hold following Donald Trump’s election, but 2016 ended with 1,536 deals, in our preliminary count. That’s 1% higher than 2015, which was the first year to break 1,500 transactions. Spending on deals in 2016, while not in record territory, was healthy.... Read More »

2016 Delivered on Health Care M and A

As health care mergers and acquisitions go, 2016 lived up to the predictions that M&A activity would stay strong. Preliminary data for year-end totals shows 1,536 announced transactions across 13 healthcare sectors. The total represents a 1% increase in deal volume compared with 2015. (See chart below.) Spending on those deals was significantly lower than the previous year, at least for now. The combined total spending in 2016 now stands at $255.7 billion, down 36% compared with 2015’s $400.3 billion. Nearly $100 billion of that total now hangs in the balance, as two of 2015’s largest deals (Anthem/Cigna and Aetna/Humana) await decisions from a federal judge regarding... Read More »

Hospital Deals Dipped in 2016

What the Affordable Care Act gave to the hospital sector, in the form of millions of more insured patients, it slowly took away, in the form of declining inpatient visits and growing competition from freestanding emergency rooms, ambulatory surgery centers and urgent care clinics. The ACA’s beneficial effects were largely played out by the third quarter of 2015, and by 2016, the thrill was gone. Hospital M&A slid slightly in 2016, according to our preliminary year-end data. Eighty-nine hospital deals were announced, down 13% compared with 2015. Spending was far higher than a year ago, reaching nearly $14 billion, a figure 47% higher than 2015’s combined total of $9.5... Read More »

The Hospital Market in the UAE Heats Up

Healthcare deals, particularly for hospitals, are heating up in the United Arab Emirates. On December 14, NMC Health, the country’s largest private healthcare company, announced its acquisition of Al Zahra Hospital in Sharja. Al Zahra is one of the largest private hospitals in the UAE, operating 137 active inpatient beds. It serves approximately 400,000 outpatients and 23,000 inpatient bed days per year. Its owner, Gulf Medical Projects Company, agreed to a purchase price of Dhiram2.1 billion, or approximately $571.7 million. That works out to nearly $4.2 million per bed, but if the claim that the hospital had $130 million in revenue in 2015, the revenue multiple of 4.4x... Read More »

Community Health Systems Starts Divesting Hospitals

It’s no secret that Community Health Systems (NYSE: CYH) has a $15 billion debt load, and that despite its spin-off of Quorum Health Corp. (NYSE: QHC) last April, its financial performance hasn’t improved. During the company’s third-quarter earnings call on November 1, CEO Wayne Smith said the company was in discussions to shed 17 of its 157 hospitals, as well as home health services and non-hospital real estate. The most recent deal following that call was announced on November 17. Community Health’s Spokane, Washington-based Rockwood Health System will become part of Tacoma, Washington-based MultiCare Health System, a not-for-profit system that operates five... Read More »