Health Care Deals Cratered in February 2017
After a very strong performance in January 2017 with 160 transactions announced, February’s deal volume collapsed 45%, to just 88 transactions (see chart below). Compared with the same month a year ago, it’s was only down 30%, to 125 deals. Don’t forget, 2016 was a leap year, so an additional six more deals snuck into last year’s results on February 29. What difference that doesn’t make for this year’s results. Yes, it’s all because of the uncertainty around the fate of the Affordable Care Act. Many of the services sectors will be effected by what becomes of Medicaid, whether states will receive block grants, or some other solution. At least two of... Read More »Allergan and Hologic Add Aesthetic Devices
Two days in February, two multi-billion-dollar deals in the Medical Device sector. But these aren’t your everyday deals for prosthesis, abdominal stents or novel surgical tools. Both target companies fall into the medical aesthetics category of medical devices, which includes body contouring and other cosmetic procedures that are generally cash-pay businesses. On February 13, 2017, Allergan plc (NYSE: AGN) purchased ZELTIQ® Aesthetics, Inc. for $2.48 billion, or $56.50 per share. ZELTIQ® Aesthetics develops and commercializes products utilizing its controlled-cooling technology platform. Its flagship CoolSculpting system is FDA-cleared to affect appearance through lipolysis or... Read More »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 »Biotechnology Deals Will Surpass 2015’s Record
Deal volume in the Biotechnology sector is poised to surpass last year’s record-setting 160 transactions. With two weeks left in 2016, deal volume has reached 159 transactions. The activity in this sector shows no signs of abating, and will probably carry through the first half of 2017, at least. Big Pharma companies are driving the M&A activity, as they actively compete for promising drug candidates to bolster their aging pipelines. A case in point is a deal that hasn’t been announced yet, but that the industry is watching with interest. French pharma company Sanofi (NYSE: SNY) is reported to be deep into acquisition talks with Swiss... Read More »Schedule a demo
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