Gary Herschman, Anjana Patel, Tim McHale Quoted in “Health-Care Dealmaking Slows Amid Inflation, Russian Invasion”

Health-care mergers and acquisitions in February dipped to the lowest monthly level since November 2020 amid economic headwinds and uncertainty arising from the Russian invasion of Ukraine. …

Life Sciences

The 35 closed and announced deals in the life sciences sector in February outstripped the total from February 2021, but was below the monthly average from last year and lower than the January total of 46. …

The health IT and software sector continues to be among the most active sectors, said Anjana Patel of Epstein, Becker & Green in Newark. “All types of investors, strategic and private equity, continue to expand their portfolios by investing in IT companies that support the health-care industry,” she said.

The physician practices and services sector has also remained active over the first two months of the year, said Gary Herschman of Epstein Becker.

The most lively sub-specialties so far have been ophthalmology (15 deals), gastroenterology (7), dermatology (6), orthopedics (5), primary care (5), and women’s health (4).

“There also has been growing transaction activity among large cardiovascular groups, which we expect will continue to increase over the next six to 18 months,” Herschman said.

Health Systems

Hospitals and health systems enjoyed a rebound in February with 12 transactions, up from six in January, and on par with 14 in February last year. …

The cannabis sector also remained strong in February, said Timothy McHale of Epstein Becker. “Acceptance of cannabis, both medicinally and recreationally, is expanding rapidly throughout the country,” he said. “And with 14 cannabis transactions in the month, that makes 14 straight months that the sector has seen double-digit deal volume.”