Physician Medical Group M&A Activity Plunges in Q2:2017, According to Data from HealthCareMandA.com

NORWALK, CT- July 20 2017- Physician medical group M&A activity plunged in the second quarter of 2017 to just 30 transactions, a 49% drop from the first quarter, according to new acquisition data from HealthCareMandA.com. The 30 transactions also represented a decline of 29% from the second quarter of 2016. It is important to note, however, that the first quarter of 2017 represented the highest level of physician medical group M&A activity in several years. With the decline in the number of transactions came a drop in the dollar volume to just $760 million in the second quarter. This was 77% below the first quarter’s results and 89% below the year-ago quarter’s dollar volume. It should be noted that only one transaction had a disclosed price in both the first quarter and second quarter.

Epiphany Dermatology announced three acquisitions in the second quarter, while Gastro Health, Envision Healthcare and Aurora Diagnostics announced two each. Envision has announced six acquisitions in the first half of 2017. “Envision Healthcare has really stepped up its buying spree this year, despite the overall market for physician medical group acquisitions suffering a downturn in the second quarter,” stated Lisa Phillips, editor of the Health Care M&A Report, which publishes the data. Only three of the acquired medical groups had 20 or more physicians, compared with nine in the first quarter.

Hospital companies or health systems announced just two physician medical group acquisitions in the second quarter of 2017, while private equity firms announced six, not including transactions announced by physician medical groups backed by PE firms. Nine of the targets in the second quarter were dermatology practices. “With the fate of reimbursement up in the air, buyers are more comfortable targeting the specialty practices,” commented Phillips.

All quarterly results are published in The Health Care M&A Report for all 13 sectors of health care, which is part of the HealthCareMandA.com. For more information, or to order the report, call 800-248-1668.  Irving Levin Associates, Inc. was established in 1948 and has headquarters in Norwalk, Connecticut. The company publishes research reports and newsletters, and maintains databases on the health care and senior housing M&A markets.

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