NEW CANAAN, CT – April 15, 2021 – eHealth merger and acquisition activity increased significantly in the first quarter of 2021, according to new acquisition data from Irving Levin Associates. There were 103 transactions announced in the first quarter, a 34% increase compared with the previous quarter’s 77 deals. Deal volume was up 72% compared with Q1:20, when 60 transactions were announced. Nineteen deals disclosed a price in the first quarter, totaling $20.52 billion, which eclipses the $9.7 million in announced spending for the fourth quarter. In Q1:20, the sector posted $8.1 billion in disclosed spending.
“Demand in digital health targets soared in 2020 due to the shift in telehealth and virtual care, but the volume of activity in the first quarter of 2021 was unprecedented” said Dylan Sammut, Editor of The Health Care M&A Report, which publishes the data. “It’s not just telehealth services driving deals in 2021; firms specializing in care coordination technology and analytics are selling at a high premium. Optum’s $13 billion deal for Change Healthcare is a clear example of the type of deals we’ll be seeing in the future.”
There has also been a rise in SPAC deals in the eHealth sector, or private companies going public through a reverse merge with a blank check company. Companies such as Sharecare, a patient engagement firm valued at $3.9 billion, and Talkspace, a telebehavioral healthcare company valued at $1.65 billion, and others, all announced the intent to go public in these types of mergers. Those deals just highlight the incredible demand and investor interest in the digital health market.
All quarterly results are published in The Health Care M&A Report, which is part of the HealthCareMandA.com investment research source. For sector-specific research and analysis, please see The 2021 Health Care Services Acquisition Report. For more information, or to order the reports, call 800-248-1668. Irving Levin Associates, Inc. was established in 1948 and has headquarters in New Canaan, Connecticut. The company publishes research reports and newsletters and maintains databases on the health care and senior housing M&A markets.
