Disruption Hits the Digital Health Sector

Disruption Hits the Digital Health Sector

by | Aug 16, 2018 4:54 pm | eHealth, Private Equity

Retailers have been the big disruptors in the healthcare market in recent months, but not in digital health. CVS Health (NYSE: CVS) and Aetna’s (NYSE: AET) merger, announced in December 2017, is still on track. Amazon’s (NASDAQ: AMZN) deal for PillPack has many wondering what’s next in the online pharmaceutical space. Now there’s Best Buy (NYSE: BBY), the consumer electronics retailer, entering the healthcare arena. The company announced on August 15 it was throwing down $800 million in cash to acquire GreatCall, Inc., an aging-in-place player, from GTCR. The private equity firm bought GreatCall about a year ago, in June 2017, for an undisclosed price.... Read More »
Q2:18 Health Care Deal Volume and Value Explode

Q2:18 Health Care Deal Volume and Value Explode

by | Jul 6, 2018 3:02 pm | Healthcare Market Updates

What a quarter it was. Even with preliminary data, the numbers of deals and dollars spent in the second quarter of 2018 are impressive. The quarter began with a bang in April (176 deals), settled in May (136 deals) and slowed in June (122 deals). That still adds up to 432 transactions reported in the second quarter, up 1% compared with the first quarter, and 13% better than the same quarter in 2017. The Services sectors accounted for 59% of the deal volume in Q1:18, five percentage points lower than in the previous quarter, and three percentage points lower than Q2:17. The Long-Term Care sector, which turned in 47 deals in April alone, posted gains of 28% compared with Q1:18 and 33%... Read More »
Amazon Scoops Up PillPack for $1 Billion

Amazon Scoops Up PillPack for $1 Billion

by | Jun 28, 2018 11:42 am | Other Services

Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) finally took the plunge into the pharmaceutical market with its approximately $1 billion acquisition of five-year-old PillPack, an online pharmacy startup based in Manchester, New Hampshire. Financial terms weren’t disclosed in the deal’s announcement, but on June 28, the day of the announcement, The Wall Street Journal quoted sources on the price. In April 2018, Walmart (NYSE: WMT) was reported to be in discussions with PillPack, and targeting a price under $1 billion, according to CNBC. Amazon was also said to be holding  discussions with the company at the time. PillPack is an online pharmacy that delivers medications in pre-sorted dose packaging and... Read More »
Q1:18 Results: Healthcare Goes Retail

Q1:18 Results: Healthcare Goes Retail

by | Apr 6, 2018 11:17 am | Healthcare Market Updates

First, the easy news. Deal volume in the first quarter of 2018 was on par with the previous quarter’s total of 380 deals. Preliminary data show 378 transactions were announced in the first quarter, making for a decline of 1% that will likely be erased as more deal activity is uncovered. Compared with the first quarter in 2017, however, deal volume was down 14%, versus the 439 deals reported then. Deal value for the quarter is where the data deviates from previous norms. The first quarter in 2017 posted a very robust $59.6 billion in disclosed deal value. In the fourth quarter of the year, deal value leapt to nearly $115.0 billion, thanks largely to the $77 billion proposed acquisition of... Read More »