Feeling Distressed? You’re Not Alone

Feeling Distressed? You’re Not Alone

For the past two years, the volume of healthcare deals has soared to new heights. Much of the growth has been powered by financial buyers, private equity firms in particular, piling into the healthcare services sectors. In 2018, a new record for annual deal volume was hit, now standing at 1,917. The services sectors accounted for 65% (1,242 deals), slightly higher than the typical 60% to 62%. Last year’s total deal tally now stands at 1,824 transactions, the second highest total ever recorded, and 70% of that comes from healthcare services deals. Why, then, have Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings among the services sectors spiked along with that activity? Since the second quarter of 2017, the... Read More »
Stat of the Week: Hospital M&A up 40% in Q4:17

Stat of the Week: Hospital M&A up 40% in Q4:17

Hospital M&A activity accelerated in the fourth quarter of 2017. The number of hospital acquisitions rose to 21 in the fourth quarter, up 40% from the 15 publicly announced acquisitions in the third quarter of 2017. Compared with the same quarter in 2016, which posted 23 transactions, activity was down 9%. None of the transactions disclosed a purchase price in the third quarter of 2017. Four of the deals disclosed prices, for a combined total of $2.82 billion. None of the transactions in the third quarter disclosed a price, although the fourth quarter of 2016 posted a total of $2.31 billion. The largest deal in the quarter was UnitedHealth Group’s (NYSE: UNH) $2.8 billion acquisition... Read More »

U.S. Hospital Deals Holding Steady

Seven months into 2017, hospital mergers and acquisitions in the United States are slow and on the smaller side. Even with Community Health System’s (NYSE: CYH) ongoing divestiture announcements, just 51 transactions have been announced through August 1. In all of 2016, 84 transactions for U.S. hospitals were announced. With five months to go, that’s a target this sector could meet or even surpass, but that’s not a very high bar to reach, considering there were 96 deals for U.S. hospitals announced in 2015. Spending on this year’s hospital deals has been anemic. Through August 1, almost $2.3 billion has been spent on mostly private hospital transactions, with the largest, at $1.4 billion,... Read More »