Hospital M&A Activity Grows in Q4:2017

PR Web

NORWALK, Conn. (PRWEB) January 19, 2018

Hospital M&A activity accelerated in the fourth quarter of 2017, according to new acquisition data from HealthCareMandA.com. The number of hospital acquisitions rose to 21 in the fourth quarter, up 40% from the 15 publicly announced acquisitions in the third quarter of 2017. Compared with the same quarter in 2016, which posted 23 transactions, activity was down 9%. While none of the transactions disclosed a purchase price in the third quarter of 2017, four of the deals in the fourth quarter disclosed prices, for a combined total of $2.82 billion. For comparison purposes, the fourth quarter of 2016 posted a total of $2.31 billion in disclosed prices paid.

The largest deal in the quarter was UnitedHealth Group's $2.8 billion acquisition of the Chilean Banmedica SA, which operates hospitals, sells health insurance and provides other services. In the United States, consolidation among large not-for-profit systems peaked in the fourth quarter with the definitive merger agreements between Dignity Health and Catholic Health Initiatives, and Advocate Health and Aurora Health. For-profit chains continued to sell financially troubled facilities. Community Health Systems sold two hospitals and Tenet Healthcare and LifePoint Health each sold one.

"The shift to value-based payments is affecting the hospital sector in myriad ways," stated Lisa Phillips, editor of the Health Care M&A Report, which publishes the data. "Continuing pressure on operating margins, shorter inpatient stays and the push by managed care organizations to deliver care in the lowest-cost setting means we'll see even more hospital mergers on the not-for-profit side in 2018."

All quarterly results are published in The Health Care M&A Report for all 13 sectors of health care, which is part of the HealthCareMandA.com investment research source. For more information, or to order the report, call 800-248-1668. Irving Levin Associates, Inc. was established in 1948 and has headquarters in Norwalk, Connecticut. The company publishes research reports and newsletters, and maintains databases on the health care and senior housing M&A markets.