April 2018 Healthcare Deals Explode

April 2018 Healthcare Deals Explode

Boom! That was April 2018’s M&A results breaking the sound barrier. With 167 transactions, the monthly deal total (almost) blew away the record for deals in a single month. The current record is now January 2017, with 178 transactions. With time, as more deals come to light, April 2018 may be the new champion. Deal volume was 21% higher than the 138 transactions reported in March 2018, and up 55% compared with April 2017’s 108 transactions. The Long-Term Care sector was a major force behind the surge in deal volume. A record 46 deals were reported, representing a 92% increase over March’s anemic 24 deals, and a 130% gain over the 20 deals reported a year earlier.... 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 »
Q1:18 Results: Healthcare Goes Retail

Q1:18 Results: Healthcare Goes Retail

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 »
New Buyers Move in to Home Health & Hospice

New Buyers Move in to Home Health & Hospice

The Home Health & Hospice sector is poised for big deals in 2018. As the healthcare industry shifts inexorably toward value-based reimbursement models, this sector has become the “go-to” care protocol to help drive down costs and to keep patients out of institutions. However, the pressures that existed in 2017 are still present in 2018, and even amplified now. Mark Kulik, managing director at The Braff Group, recently gave us his view of the market. Not only will the rate of M&A activity accelerate, new buyers will enter the market. “Ten years ago, people stayed in their lane. Today, we’re going out to a wider range of buyers, such as long-term care and... Read More »
April 2018 Healthcare Deals Explode

Stat of the Week: Healthcare M&A Spending up 18% in 2017

The year hasn’t ended, and there are still two weeks to go in the fourth quarter of 2017. The holidays are already under way, with more on the horizon. Before we get too busy, here’s a quick look at where things stand in mid-December. Total healthcare mergers and acquisitions reached 1,467 deals as of December 14. That’s only 7% lower than the combined total for all of 2016, at 1,574 deals. Spending on these transactions is already higher. This year’s dollar volume currently stands at approximately $303.9 billion, up 18% compared with last year’s total of $256.7 billion. Much of the credit for the spending rise goes to the largest single transaction announced... Read More »