Dive Brief:
- Hospital mergers and acquisitions volume fell markedly in the fourth quarter of 2013, according to initial data from Irving Levin Associates.
- According to the researchers, hospital M&A declined 35% in volume, from 34 deals in the fourth quarter of 2012 to 22 in the fourth quarter of last year. Deal volume also fell 8.3% from 24 deals in the third quarter of 2013.
- In the healthcare services and technology sector as a whole, a total of 283 deals were announced in the fourth quarter 2013, down from 306 from the same quarter in 2012.
Dive Insight:
So, hospital M&A may have slowed down a bit. That's an interesting data point but I don't think it's an indicator of what will happen in the future. Given the pressure on hospitals to join ACOs and otherwise engage in activities which require scale, I think 2014 will prove to be a year of high volume M&A activity. Hospitals may resist, or step off the M&A path to engage in partnerships or even joint operating agreements, but one way or the other they'll eventually consider a merger. It's just going to be that kind of year.