At 932 M&A transactions, the number of healthcare deals fared better than most expected in 2009 given the overall decline in last year’s M&A market. Technology, overall led the way, with biotechnology deals up 31% YoY and e-health showing unusual resilience with 171% uptick in dollar volume over 2008. There is a tight coupling between medical device vendor share price and the normal movements of the market. In contrast, there seems to be a lead relationship between application software vendors and the market. The stock group has already surpassed the NASDAQ. The article identifies the hot segments, services and takes a look ahead the healthcare M&A landscape for 2010.
