NORWALK, CT – April 16, 2020 – Deal volume in the home health and hospice sector slowed in the first quarter of 2020, down 10% with 19 publicly announced transactions, compared with 21 acquisitions in the fourth quarter of 2019, according to data from HealthCareMandA.com. No transactions disclosed a price in the first quarter.
“Deal volume in the first quarter remained fairly strong, even as the COVID-19 pandemic began to spread around the world,” said Lisa E. Phillips, editor of The Health Care M&A Report, which publishes the data. “Deal flow in the United States was strong in January through mid-March. And two deals were announced on March 31. Those may be the last for some time to come.”
In the first quarter, private equity firms and their sponsored companies were the busiest buyers, accounting for 61% of the 19 transactions. Both Bristol Hospice, a portfolio company of Webster Equity Partners, and two hospice companies sponsored by The Vistria Group announced two deals each. Cornerstone Healthcare, the home health and hospice subsidiary formed by The Pennant Group in October 2019, jumped into the market this quarter, announcing two additions to its portfolio.
“While this quarter maintained normal deal flow, the second quarter undoubtedly will look much different, due to the pandemic,” Phillips added. “We’ve heard that some deals scheduled to close in April have been pulled until conditions return to ‘normal,’ if that ever happens.”
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 Home Health and Hospice Acquisition Report 2019. For information, or to order the reports, call 800-248-1668. Irving Levin Associates is celebrating more than 70 years of delivering exclusive M&A intelligence to its sophisticated audience of seniors housing and healthcare investors. The company was established in 1948 and has headquarters in Norwalk, Connecticut. The company publishes research reports and newsletters and maintains databases on the healthcare and senior housing M&A markets.
