Home Health Sector Closes 2016 in ‘Epic’ Deal

by | Dec 20, 2016 8:23 pm | Home Health & Hospice, Private Equity

The year is ending on a high note for mergers and acquisitions in the Home Health & Hospice sector. Deal volume reached 54 transactions by mid-December, and could go higher as we finish up the year. Last year ended with 51 transactions. Consolidation continued, as buyers such as Kindred Healthcare (NYSE: KND) and Epic Health Services announced four acquisitions apiece. Three other companies, Almost Family (NASDAQ: AFAM), Jordan Health Services and PSA Healthcare, each made three acquisitions. Eight private equity firms made nine deals. Blue Wolf Capital Partners was the sole firm to announce two in this sector. Deal value wasn’t as impressive in 2016, but that is because some of... Read More »

REIT-backed Hospital Deals Accelerate

by | Oct 7, 2016 6:52 pm | Hospitals, Private Equity

Now that hospitals and health systems have realized most of the benefits they expected from the Affordable Care Act, the mergers and acquisitions in the hospital sector have been supplanted by partnerships, clinical collaborations, joint ventures, strategic alliances and affiliations. But there is one group of acquirers still on the prowl: real estate investment trusts (REITs). Their interest and investment in this sector has grown since 2014, when only three REIT-sponsored deals were announced.  Those deals targeted one hospital each, with a total of 94 beds. Combined spending was $1.27 billion. The action picked up in 2015, with six REIT-backed deals announced. The largest was made by... Read More »

naviHealth Buys Curaspan

by | Apr 20, 2016 4:42 pm | eHealth, Other Services, Private Equity

naviHealth is moving deeper into post-acute care transitions, in an effort to follow the bundled payments from end-to-end. Last week the company announced it will acquire Curaspan Health Group for an undisclosed amount. Just last August, naviHealth was the target in a $290 million deal, as Cardinal Health (NYSE: CAH) acquired 71% of the company from Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, with the goal of acquiring the remaining 29% within four years. naviHealth provides software and analytics to healthcare plans, health systems, physicians and post-acute care providers to manage the entire continuum of post-acute care. Curaspan Health specializes in care transition tools for hospitals and... Read More »

FastMed Urgent Care Goes to ABRY Partners

by | May 26, 2015 6:14 pm | Other Services

Yet another major transaction for an urgent care provider was announced last week, as Comvest Partners sold its interest in FastMed Urgent Care to ABRY Partners, for an undisclosed price. FastMed is the second largest independent urgent care organization in the United States, with 52 clinics in North Carolina and 35 in Arizona. In April, UnitedHealth Group’s Optum (NYSE: UNH) paid an undisclosed sum for MedExpress, which operates 141 full-service neighborhood medical centers in 11 states. The month before that, Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) sold its urgent care subsidiary Concentra Inc. to a joint venture formed by Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe and Select Medical Corporation (NYSE: SEM)... Read More »

Ventas Buys Hospitals and Spins off SNFs

by | Apr 13, 2015 3:54 pm | Hospitals

Ventas, Inc. (NYSE: VTR) had a busy week, as it paid $1.75 billion for Ardent Health Services, one of the 10 largest for-profit hospitals companies in the United States, from Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe. The plan is to separate Ardent’s hospital operations from its owned real estate and sell the operations to one or more newly formed entities owned by Ardent’s current management. The same day, VTR announced plans to spin off most of its post-acute and skilled nursing facility portfolio into an independently traded REIT called SpinCo, which will own 355 high-quality, triple-net leased SNFs and other healthcare assets operated by 44 private regional and local care... Read More »