NORWALK, CT – January 25, 2019 – The number of publicly announced seniors housing and care acquisitions in the fourth quarter of 2018 topped 100 transactions for the third quarter in a row, with 103 total transactions announced, based on new acquisition data from Irving Levin Associates. While this represents a slight decrease from the third quarter’s record-high 119 transactions, it represents a 39% increase from last year’s fourth quarter total of 74 transactions. Dollar volume for the fourth quarter, based on disclosed prices, jumped to $2.96 billion, a 38% increase from the third quarter’s $2.14 billion.
With capital still abundant, and demand for acquisitions high, the number of acquisitions with disclosed prices above $100 million increased to seven in the fourth quarter, compared with just four in the third quarter and six in last year’s fourth quarter. The dominant buyer type remains the private senior care operating company, representing 53% of the transactions. Private equity firms and other private real estate investors accounted for 35% of the acquisitions, with REITs at just under 8%. The Ensign Group was the most prolific buyer in the fourth quarter, with four separate acquisitions, followed by CareTrust REIT with three.
“The demand for seniors housing and care assets remains extremely high, across all quality and property types. The Federal Reserve keeps raising interest rates, but that has not tempered demand at all,” stated Stephen M. Monroe, Managing Editor of The SeniorCare Investor and Editor of The Senior Care Acquisition Reports. “The availability of equity capital continues to increase, and with the debt markets still very liquid, buyers are not having any problem funding their deals”
The fourth quarter acquisition volume helped propel 2018 into the record books with 426 publicly announced acquisitions in the seniors housing and care sectors. The activity continues to be almost evenly split between skilled nursing and seniors housing. “Despite all the problems we hear about with skilled nursing, the demand for the properties remains extremely high, whether at the high end of the market or the low end. And new capital is being poured in to renovate many of the older buildings,” Monroe added.
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. In addition, annual results of the seniors housing and care acquisition markets will be published this year in two separate reports: The Seniors Housing Acquisition and Investment Report, and The Skilled Nursing Acquisition and Investment Report. These comprehensive reports will each have more than 150 pages of transaction details and valuation statistics. For information, or to order the reports, call 800-248-1668. Irving Levin Associates is celebrating 70 years of delivering exclusive M&A intelligence to its sophisticated audience of seniors housing and healthcare investors, and 2017 marked the third year in a row that the firm was recognized by Inc. 5000 as one of the fastest growing media companies in the country. 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 seniors housing M&A markets.
Click here to get more information on any of our Publications.</stron
