New data from Bain & Company shows healthcare private equity hit a record $191 billion in deal value in 2025, cementing the sector as one of PE’s most durable growth bets. Aging populations, chronic disease burden, and healthcare’s sheer economic scale continue to make it hard for investors to ignore.
But the tone has shifted. With the number of PE firms active in healthcare doubling over the past 15 years, competition for high-quality assets is intensifying. Prices are rising, deal structures are getting more complex, and the margin for error is shrinking — just as firms face mounting pressure to deliver exits from aging portfolios.
Where capital is flowing is also telling. Investors are zeroing in on pharma services tied to injectables like GLP-1s, clinical trial infrastructure, and provider-facing technologies that promise productivity gains amid labor shortages and wage inflation. Efficiency, not expansion alone, is becoming the dominant thesis.
The question now isn’t whether private equity will stay in healthcare — it’s how returns are generated when everyone is chasing the same assets.