Behavioral Health Care M&A Activity Jumps in Q1:2017, According to Data from HealthCareMandA.com

NORWALK, CT – April 13, 2017 – The behavioral health care acquisition market came alive in the first quarter of 2017, with the number of publicly announced mergers and acquisitions jumping by 50% from the fourth quarter of 2016 to a total of 12 acquisitions, according to recent acquisition data from HealthCareMandA.com. The first quarter’s total also represented a 33% increase from the first quarter of 2016, when there were nine announced acquisitions. Most acquisitions are small and do not have disclosed prices. Despite the spike in transaction volume, the disclosed dollar value of those deals was much lower than both last year’s fourth quarter and first quarter.  In fact, just one acquisition had a disclosed price, Global Partner Acquisition Corp.’s purchase of Sequel Youth and Family Services for nearly $150 million. Sequel operates 44 residential and community-based programs in 19 states. The acquisition effectively enabled to Sequel to become publicly traded.

“We expect the behavioral health care M&A market to gain some real traction in 2017 and beyond, as policymakers have finally begun to focus on what had been a backwater of the healthcare delivery system,” commented Lisa Phillips, editor of The Health Care M&A Report, which publishes the acquisition data. “Private equity firms have shown increased interest, and we expect some REITs to diversify into behavioral health real estate,” Phillips continued.

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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