In 2021, record levels of private investment will flow into the U.S. healthcare system accelerating merger and acquisition activity and fundamentally altering competition in the industry as organizations look beyond the pandemic.
Financial sponsors i.e. private equity, hedge funds, large-cap multi-nationals operating in the U.S., ended 2020 with $2.9 trillion cash on hand to invest. Of more than 300 ‘blank check’ aka Special Purpose Acquisition Companies are looking for acquisitions–53 focused exclusively on healthcare deals. Last year, a record 7 unicorns ($1 billion in revenues and privately owned) went public with names like Oscar, 23 and Me, One Medical, GoodRx and others now publicly traded. And notwithstanding growth in recent short-seller activity as some think SPACs might pay too much for their acquisition targets, merger-acquisition activity in 2021 could rise by 35% and reverse mergers, which include SPAC deals, could jump 47% this year. It’s understandable:
- The U.S. health system is dependent on private funding. In 2019, its funds came from the government (45%), private insurers (26%) and household out of pocket payments (28%).