37 Buyers Spent $1.0 Billion Or More On Health Care M&A
From years past, we have come to expect a lull in merger and acquisition activity from Thanksgiving through New Year’s Day. Instead of announcing new, large transactions, dealmakers typically use the holiday season to close on deals announced earlier in the year. And while deal making will continue through the end of the year, we take this brief respite from the hectic flow of deals to report on the big spenders in the 2010 M&A market.
From January through the end of November, a total of 118 buyers announced two or more mergers or acquisitions in the health care industry. This accounts for 378 deals, or 46% of the 826 transactions announced during those 11 months, while the remaining 448 buyers announced one deal each. These figures resemble those for 2009 when 106 buyers announced two or more deals, accounting for 351 transactions, or 42% of the total. When added to the 448 buyers who made one deal in 2010, the total number of buyers for the year rises to 566.
What They Paid
During the first 11 months of the year, the 118 multiple buyers spent $112.0 billion on deals, or approximately 65% of the $171.0 billion spent on health care M&A so far this year. This points to the conclusion that in terms of dollar value, health care M&A activity is concentrated in the hands of the multiple buyers.
The Billionaire’s Club
Thirty-seven buyers, making either single or multiple deals, spent $1.0 billion or more in the health care M&A market. These 37 organizations announced a combined total of 124 deals worth $120.7 billion. This figure represents 71% of the total amount spent in the first 11 months of 2010. By comparison, in 2009, 29 buyers announced 114 deals worth $188.4 billion. (It may be recalled that this latter figure includes two mega-deals in 2009, Pfizer’s (NYSE: PFE) $68.0 billion acquisition of Wyeth and Merck’s (NYSE: MRK) $41.1 billion purchase of Schering-Plough Corp.). The 2009 figure represents 85% of the total amount spent on health care M&A in that year. The two mega-deals in 2009 appear to have skewed the results somewhat since in 2008, the multiple buyers in that year accounted for just 74% of all M&A dollars…Want to read more? Click here for a free trial and download the current issue today
