Deals, Investments                                                                                                                                    

There were 500 deals representing a total reported transaction value of $90.5 billion during the first quarter of 2020, within the market for healthcare and healthcare service businesses that support the life sciences industry. This compares to 617 deals with a reported value of $140.7 billion during Q1 of 2019, a decline in 18.9% in number of deals and a 35% decline in overall transaction value. 

While that quarter-to-quarter decline is noteworthy, indications are that the coronavirus pandemic may have just started to affect this sector during Q1: the total number of deals was about the same from February 2020 – 147 deals – to March – 148 deals. And the total transaction value rose from $11.7 billion in February 2020 to $31.1 billion in March 2020.

The largest deal of the quarter was health insurer WellCare’s $17 billion completed merger. Other deals of interest in the sector include Huntsworth’s decision to go private by selling to PE firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice for $511 million, W20’s announced fourth acquisition of NYC-based agency 21 grams, and WebMD’s purchase of Staywell from Merck.

After WellCare merger, Centene now a ‘$100 billion-plus’ company

The size of the deal was previously reported to be $17 billion. The combined entity will serve more than 24 million members, with both Centene and WellCare having a large hold in the government health space.

• For 2019, Centene reported revenues of $74.64 billion, up 24 percent from the prior year.
• Centene saw its total membership increase from 14.17 million to 15.24 million last year. That included a 20 percent increase in the number of people who enrolled in its ACA plans to 1.81 million.
• It also saw a more modest increase in its Medicaid membership, from 8.39 million to 8.64 million.

Modern Healthcare, MedCity News

W2O acquires healthcare advertising boutique 21Grams

W2O Group is adding an advertising agency to its portfolio with its acquisition of 21Grams — a New York-based agency focused on healthcare.

• The deal will be W2O’s fourth acquisition in the past six months and its first pure-play advertising and creative buy.
• 21Grams is a 150-person shop with more than $50 million in revenue.
• The agency was founded in 2016 and has seen double-digit growth every year since then, according to its founder/CEO Bob Blink. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The Holmes Report

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