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 »

REIT-backed Hospital Deals Accelerate

Now that hospitals and health systems have realized most of the benefits they expected from the Affordable Care Act, the mergers and acquisitions in the hospital sector have been supplanted by partnerships, clinical collaborations, joint ventures, strategic alliances and affiliations. But there is one group of acquirers still on the prowl: real estate investment trusts (REITs). Their interest and investment in this sector has grown since 2014, when only three REIT-sponsored deals were announced.  Those deals targeted one hospital each, with a total of 94 beds. Combined spending was $1.27 billion. The action picked up in 2015, with six REIT-backed deals announced. The largest was made by... Read More »

Hospital M&A in 2015

It’s been a busy year for mergers and acquisitions in the Hospital sector, and it’s not over yet. Our preliminary figures show 101 transactions with a combined deal value of $8.7 billion. At least two announced transactions have been terminated, and there are still a few to track down, so those numbers will change. Of those 101 deals, 89 acquirers were other hospitals or health systems. One was a behavioral health company, Sovereign Health Group, which runs residential treatment centers for mental health and substance abuse patients through its affiliate, Ashland Properties LLC. Private equity firms made six acquisitions, and REITs made five. The largest of those REIT... Read More »

Q2:15 Hospital M&A Stayed Active

Hospital mergers and acquisitions didn’t flag in the second quarter of 2015, with at least 23 “definitive agreements” signed. That’s equal to the 23 recorded in the first quarter of the year. (We wait until hospital transactions get that far in the process, because so many fall apart after they sign a letter of intent.) Ventas Inc.’s (NYSE: VTR) $1.75 billion acquisition of Ardent Health Services was the biggest deal of the quarter, followed by Ventas’ expected spin-off of Ardent’s hospital operations to Equity Group Investments, LLC for $475 million. Watch for The Health Care M&A Report, Second Quarter 2015 to be published next week. Read More »

Ventas Spins Off Ardent Health’s Hospital Operations

As expected, Ventas, Inc. (NYSE: VTR) transferred the majority of Ardent Health Service’s hospital operations to Equity Group Investments last week, in exchange for $475 million. Ventas retains the owned real estate of the 10 Ardent Health hospitals, which it acquired in April 2015 for $1.75 billion. Ventas retains a 9.9% interest, while EGI and current Ardent Health Services management share the remaining ownership stake.   Read More »