Bon Secours Mercy Health is acquiring a majority share in healthcare services company Surgery Partners in a take-private deal valuing the acquiree at $5.7 billion, the organizations announced Monday morning.
The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of next year, pending approvals, and with more than 200 locations in tow would help the major nonprofit health system create “one of the country’s largest outpatient surgical care platforms,” they said.
“As healthcare continues to evolve, it is important to grow in ways that allow us to serve more people, in more communities and through a broader range of care settings,” John M. Starcher, Jr., president and CEO of Bon Secours Mercy Health, said in the announcement. “Our relationship with Surgery Partners represents an important step toward advancing that commitment.
Currently, affiliates of Bain Capital Private Equity control about 39% of the public Surgery Partners. Under the terms of the deal, Bain Capital would retain and rollover those shares while HealthSpan Partners, an affiliate of Bon Secours, would purchase the remainders with cash at $23.50 per share.
Surgery Partners’ short-stay surgical platform includes ambulatory surgery centers, surgical hospitals and about 5,000 affiliated physicians spanning 30 states. It reported $3.31 billion in revenue during 2025 and $0.47 adjusted earnings per share.
The company has been public since 2015, with a 2017 merger making it the largest standalone, independent surgical facilities operator at the time. Bain Capital made an offer in January 2025 to fully acquire the shares it didn’t own for $25.75 apiece (roughly $6.7 billion enterprise valuation), though that offer was rejected a few months later.
Surgery Partners has also been slimming down some of its acute care holdings in recent months, a strategic move its leadership said would better position the company as a purely short-stay surgical provider while limiting its exposure to Medicaid.
“We believe this transaction represents the best path forward for Surgery Partners, delivering an attractive all-cash premium to our shareholders while creating lasting benefits for our patients, physicians and other stakeholders,” Surgery Partners CEO Eric Evans said Monday.
Bon Secours Mercy Health is a Catholic nonprofit with 47 hospitals, more than 1,200 care site and nearly 60,000 employees. It reported just shy of $14 billion in total operating revenue through 2025, as well as $324 million of recurring operating income (2.3% recurring operating margin) and a $1.1 billion bottom line. Of note, its holdings include 41% ownership in revenue cycle management company Ensemble Health Partners, for which a summer strategic recapitalization transaction with a new private equity investor injected $670.8 million cash into the system, per recent financial statements.
Bon Secours’ HealthSpan Partners is financing the Surgery Partners purchase with a combination of cash on hand and newly secured debt. Upon close, the parties plan to keep Surgery Partners’ operations, brand and headquarters in place, while also keeping the business as a secular organization.
Strategically, the deal is evidence of large health systems’ growing investments into ambulatory care networks, where many expect to see rising demand as consumers prioritize lower cost care settings. Healthcare executives have bluntly described these investments as a “top priority,” particularly as regulatory and policy activity such as the wind-down of Medicare’s inpatient-only list pushes care outside of the hospital.
“As more care moves beyond the hospital setting, patients are looking for high-quality care that fits more seamlessly into their lives,” Wael Haidar, M.D., Bon Secours Mercy Health’s president of clinical operations, said in the announcement. “Surgery Partners understands that care should be designed around the needs of patients, and that approach aligns closely with our mission. Together, we have an opportunity to expand access to high-quality outpatient care while supporting physicians and helping patients receive the right care, in the right setting, at the right time.”
The most apparent analogue for Bon Secours’ deal comes from Ascension, an even larger Catholic nonprofit, which closed a $3.9 billion deal over the summer to acquire AmSurg, an ambulatory surgery management services company with over 300 locations. Ascension CEO Eduardo Conrado has described that deal as both a means to flesh out his system’s existing markets—improving overall volumes and allowing hospitals to focus on high-complexity patients—and a way to strike new business partnerships with other local health systems in markets beyond its prior footprint.