The steady pace of health care deals

Health care mergers and acquisitions slowed a bit over the summer, but the industry still has kept bankers and consultants busy since the Affordable Care Act went into effect. The health care industry has initiated more than 200 deals per quarter for 12 straight quarters, including 211 in the third quarter of 2017, according to a report from PwC.

The value of all the health care transactions in the third quarter was about $17.4 billion, led by the $3.75 billion deal between health insurers Centene and Fidelis Care. That total was down from almost $50 billion in the second quarter, an anomaly that had a slew of large-scale buyouts such as the $9 billion minority stake selloff of drug research firm PPD.

• A third of the health care deals in the third quarter involved long-term-care facilities, like nursing homes.
• Buyers are paying more for most health care companies, especially labs and imaging centers.
• Many other mergers were initiated in the third quarter but did not have disclosed deal values.
• Thad Kresho, who tracks health care deals for PwC, expects even more transactions by the end of the year, partially due to increasing interest by private equity investors.