Home health and hospice M&A rebounded in 2015

Home health and hospice mergers and acquisitions rebounded after a decline earlier in 2015.

Twelve publicly announced transactions took place each in the third and fourth quarter of 2015, according to The Health Care M&A Report from Irving Levin Associates, Inc. That’s on par with Q3 2014 but down from 20 acquisitions in Q4 2014.

But when it comes to the dollar amounts of the transactions in 2015, there was a sharp decline from $273.85 million in Q3 to $108.7 million in Q4. Most transactions are small and many do not disclose prices, but two disclosed acquisitions in Q4 2015 accounted for about 95 percent of the quarter’s total dollar amount. Amedysis, Inc. purchased Infinity HomeCare based in Sarasota, Fla., for $63 million. Almost Family purchased Home Care by Black Stone, based in Cincinnati, for $40 million.

"The large, publicly traded home health and hospice providers are just getting bigger in this market, and post-acute providers still search for home health and hospice business in their markets," says Lisa Philips, editor of the Health Care M&A Report in a press release. "With the continued emphasis on home and community-based care, acquisition interest will only grow, as long as reimbursement does not get cut."

Quarterly results are published for all 13 sectors of healthcare as part of the Health Care M&A Information Source.  

Nicole Stempak

Nicole was Senior Editor at I Advance Senior Care and Long Term Living Magazine 2015-2017. She has a Journalism degree from Kent State University and is finalizing a master’s degree in Information Architecture and Management. She has extensive studies in the digital user experience and in branding online media. She has worked as an editor and writer for various B2B publications, including Business Finance.