The Numbers Are In: First Quarter 2008 HC M&A Activity Sluggish
The April 2008 issue of the Health Care M&A Monthly (subscription only publication) reports the announcement of 219 health care transactions in Q1 2008, down from the activity in both Q4 2007 (301 deals, down 27%) and Q1 2007 (237 deals, down 8%). Biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical device deals account for almost 75% of the deals announced, while home health, managed care, hospitals, long term care and behavioral health transactions collectively accounted for only about 8% of the volume. The authors recognize that the decline is due, at least in part, to the credit crunch and the fact that activities of financial buyers have slowed, but point out that health care tends to be anti-cyclic and that the industry is still very much in need of consolidation. Make sure to check out the full report for additional analysis on these and other industry trends. For those who closely follow HC M&A activity, you may want to consider a subscription to this publication, as I have found the analysis to be very good.
