Mergers & Acquisitions Ramping Up For The Next Normal

The pandemic did not put the brakes on mergers and acquisitions (M&A) across health care. M&A activity stayed in the range of prior years—79 transactions in 2020 compared to 92 in 2019, and analysts predicted a rise in M&A activity in 2021 (see 2020 M&A in Review: COVID-19 as Catalyst for Transformation). And 44% of chief financial officers (CFOs) of health care organizations said they expect to see an increase in partnerships across the ecosystem. These CFOs plan to merge with another organization (28%), enter into a joint venture (24 . . .