NORWALK, Conn., Oct. 30, 2018 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Hospital M&A activity held steady in the third quarter of 2018, according to new acquisition data from HealthCareMandA.com. The number of hospital acquisitions remained at 15 in the third quarter, equal to the 15 transactions announced in the second quarter, but down 12% from the 17 announced deals in the year-ago third quarter. Dollar volume was the highest seen in the previous four quarters, totaling nearly $8.2 billion, compared with $120.3 million in the previous quarter.
One factor behind the decline from the first quarter's robust 26 deals was the end of the announced divestitures made by some for-profit chains, particularly Community Health Systems and its spin-off, Quorum Healthcare. Together with Tenet Healthcare, these three companies spent the previous six quarters selling off underperforming or assets in non-core markets. With the $5.6 billion acquisition of LifePoint Health, announced in the third quarter by RCCH HealthCare Partners, that publicly traded chain is going private, leaving the financially healthy HCA Healthcare as the only publicly traded hospital chain still making acquisitions.
"Despite the relatively low number of deals in this quarter, some sizable health systems merged or were acquired," stated Lisa E. Phillips, editor of the Health Care M&A Report, which publishes the data. "LifePoint Health, with about 9,200 beds, is one, but there was also Einstein Healthcare, with about 1,000 beds, joining Jefferson Health in Philadelphia, and Mission Health, with 991 beds, being acquired by HCA. The Baylor Scott & White merger with Memorial Hermann in Texas could reach a definitive agreement in the fourth quarter, which would keep this trend going."
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.
SOURCE HealthCareMandA.com
Share this article