Two multibillion-dollar acquisitions in the senior housing and care sector last quarter drove a nearly 600 percent increase over the first quarter in the dollar volume of publicly announced deals, according to a new report from a Norwalk company that tracks senior housing and healthcare markets.
The surge — to $9.7 billion, the highest in three years — illustrates the continued investment interest in the sector and the willingness of buyers to commit significant amounts of capital, despite current headwinds, said Steve Monroe, managing editor of The SeniorCare Investor and editor of The Senior Care Acquisition Report published by Irving Levin Associates, which also operates HealthCareMandA.com.
“Each of the two largest transactions was more than double the dollar size of the largest acquisition in 2016, so it looks like the large deals are back in vogue,” Monroe said.
Big second-quarter deals were Sabra Health Care REIT acquiring Care Capital Properties in a transaction valued close to $4 billion, and Columbia Pacific Advisors acquiring Hawthorn Retirement Group for an estimated $2.6 billion, data from HealthCareMandA.com show.
Three other acquisitions topped $700 million in value, including the announced sale by Kindred Healthcare at the end of June of its skilled nursing division to private equity firm BlueMountain Capital Management LLC, HealthCareMandA.com said.
While dollar volume surged in the quarter, the number of transactions, 75, was essentially flat with the first quarter. Compared with second quarter 2016, the dollar volume rose 300 percent, but transactions fell 17 percent, HealthCareMandA.com reported.
