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 »
Deal of the Week: Concentra/Dignity Health

Deal of the Week: Concentra/Dignity Health

Even as it continues merger talks with the troubled hospital chain, Catholic Health Initiatives, Dignity Health sold its rehabilitation and occupational health division, U.S. HealthWorks for $753 million. The acquirer, Concentra Group Holdings, is jointly held by Select Medical Corporation (NYSE: SEM), Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe and minority equity shareholders including Cressey & Company. The combination will bolster both companies’ urgent care platforms as new payment models push for care delivery outside of hospital setting. Dignity Health will receive a 20% equity interest in the combined entity, valued at $238 million, and the remainder of the purchase price in... Read More »

The MACRA Effect Keeps Building

Last year, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services asked for comments and then rolled out the final rules on the implementation of the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA). Many industry observers predicted the rules would drive the majority of independent physician practices “right into the arms” of a local hospital, health system or other entity. Those predictions appear to be true. As of mid-March 2017, 46 acquisitions of physician practices have been announced, a 105% increase from the same period a year ago. Only one of the deals disclosed a price,  Optum’s (NYSE: UNH) $3.3 billion acquisition of Surgical Care Affiliates Inc. (NASDAQ:... Read More »