Dive Brief:
- The volume and value of hospital M&A grew during the third quarter of 2013 as compared with the same period in 2012.
- The total number of hospital M&A transactions globally increased from 12 in Q3 '12 to 19 in Q3 '13, a 58.3% bump; on the other hand, M&A activity for the first nine months of 2013 fell 6.6%, from 60 deals YTD 2014 to 56 YTD 2013.
- Overall deal value shot up from $38 million in Q3 2012 to $12.3 billion in Q3 2013, driven by acquisitions valued at more than $1 billion during that period.
Dive Insight:
With the hospital industry in flux, and reimbursement levels threatening to drop even further, many more hospitals will be driven into the arms of merger/acquisition partners. Pressure to join ACOs should also play a role in consolidation, as some hospitals will decide that it's better to join an integrated system than play at the periphery.Given these forces, expect to see plenty of M&A activity in the hospital sector in 2014.