A new survey by global consulting giant KPMG concludes that healthcare executives are bullish about momentum building around mergers and acquisitions.
According to KPMG, 60 percent of the healthcare executives it recently polled said they plan to make more deals in 2013 than in 2012. Many of the deals are expected to be mid-market sized or smaller (generally $250 million or less), with easy financing and fewer obstacles than in larger transactions among the leading drivers, according to the poll.
"With the Supreme Court rulings and the presidential election complete, visibility into healthcare reform is improving. Additionally, the underlying fundamentals in the deal market are improving, with the combination of what appears to be a stabilizing U.S. economy, favorable credit terms, open debt markets, and high cash balances paving the way for an increase in Healthcare M&A volume as 2013 progresses," Bill Baker, lead healthcare partner for KPMG's transactions and restructuring practice, said in an announcement accompanying the study.
According to Financial News, global healthcare M&A is up 45 percent compared to the same time a year ago. For the moment, however, M&A activity in the hospital sector has slowed. According to Irving Levin & Associates, the number of hospital deals consummated in the first quarter was 23, compared to 37 in the fourth quarter of 2012 and 27 during the first quarter of last year.
However, the number of deals involving long-term care facilities in the first quarter of the year was up seven percent compared to the first quarter of 2012, according to Senior Housing News.
To learn more:
- read the KPMG study
- read the Senior Housing News article
- read the Financial News article
- read the Irving Levin & Associates report