NORWALK, CT – January 24, 2019 – Hospital M&A activity rose slightly in the fourth quarter of 2018, according to new acquisition data from HealthCareMandA.com. Twenty transactions were reported, up 18% compared with the 17 deals announced in the third quarter. Compared with the same quarter in 2017, however, deal volume was down by 20%. Dollar volume was strong, totaling nearly $1.2 billion, but was 86% lower than the $8.3 billion reported in the previous quarter.
Community Health Systems continued its years-long divestiture plan. The publicly traded company sold the two-hospital Mary Black Health System (332 beds), four hospitals in South Carolina (650 beds) and Memorial Hospital of Salem County (126 beds) in New Jersey. All were deemed to be underperforming or assets in non-core markets. The largest deal by price was a foreign transaction, as Ramsay General de Sante SA, the French subsidiary of Australia’s Ramsay Health Care Limited, acquired Sweden’s Capio AB, a pan-European healthcare provider, for $903 million.
“The fourth quarter produced some sizable deals. Of the 15 deals targeting U.S. health systems, a total of 4,259 beds traded hands,” stated Lisa E. Phillips, editor of the Health Care M&A Report, which publishes the data. “On the other hand, several targets were financially struggling or emerging from bankruptcy protection. Companies such as Curae Health, Promise Healthcare and Verity Health are all seeking buyers and that trend will continue in 2019, sadly.”
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.
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