Home Health & Hospice Is Primed for Consolidation

Home Health & Hospice Is Primed for Consolidation

The Home Health & Hospice sector is far less fragmented than it was just five years ago. The sector has seen a lot of activity, thanks to the push by payors to move patients towards lower-cost post-acute care settings. That has attracted a lot of investor interest in recent years, and 2018 proved to be a watershed moment as the large-market private equity firms moved in to acquire or build national platforms. Deals by publicly traded companies have changed the sector in significant ways, too. Some merged, such as LHC Group (NASDAQ: LHCG) and Almost Family, Inc. have morphed to focus more on home health than other services, such as Encompass Health Corp. (NYSE: EHC), formerly known as... Read More »
PE Firms Join to Form Home Health Care Giant

PE Firms Join to Form Home Health Care Giant

Consolidation isn’t a novel concept in the healthcare market, although it has been slow to arrive for some. The Home Health & Hospice sector has experienced a few jolts in the past six months, as three publicly traded giants merged or were split up. Now the private equity side has sent a shock wave through this sector, pulling together three separate platform companies into a major contender. Blue Wolf Capital Partners, which has backed both Great Lakes Caring and National Home Health Care for the past two years, joined with Kelso & Company to acquire Jordan Health Services from Palladium Equity Partners, LLC. Financial terms were not disclosed. Upon closing the transaction... Read More »
Deal(s) of the Week: Teva, Take Two

Deal(s) of the Week: Teva, Take Two

Debt has been a key deal driver this year, particularly in the hospital sector, where Community Health Systems (NYSE: CYH), Quorum Health Corporation (NYSE: QHC) and Tenet Healthcare (NYSE: THC) are shedding less desirable assets. Joining them now is generic drug maker Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA), which is shouldering $35 billion of debt brought on by its $40.5 billion acquisition of Allergan’s (NYSE: AGN) line of generics, announced in July 2015. The company hasn’t announced an acquisition since September 2016. What a difference a year makes, as generic drug prices have been squeezed and the company has been selling off non-core assets to pay down its... Read More »