2022 proved to be a year that did not live up to everyone’s expectations. Riding on a wave of furious M+A activity in 2021, the initial optimism was met with bewilderment as buyers became increasingly selective and cautious in the transaction process as they sought to mitigate risk.  Deals that were expected to be straightforward experienced headwinds that led to a less-than-robust conclusion to the year.  Larger global economic issues, the continuing pandemic, and uncertainty in the political sphere undoubtedly influenced the healthcare M+A market.  However, we are already seeing signs of change in 2023. Deal activity is up and buyers still have a lot of dry powder to deploy.  The VERTESS team is pleased to offer its annual year-end review as well as the future outlook for each of the healthcare verticals our Managing Directors support.  We look forward to new challenges and successes in 2023!

Every January, as we begin conversations with healthcare business owners who are considering the sale of their companies, we are often asked about the previous year's market and what predictions we can offer for the new year.  2021 offered some continuing challenges due to the ongoing global pandemic, but there was still significant activity in healthcare M&A.  While 2022 is still just days old, VERTESS is keenly aware of developing trends that we believe will continue throughout the year. As each VERTESS team member has a long history in specific healthcare sectors, we are reviewing the previous year for each of those sectors as well as some projections for 2022. 

How is the COVID-19 pandemic going to affect healthcare businesses in the short and long term? We asked leaders from several companies to share their responses to this question, which are below. Following these responses, David Coit of VERTESS shares his thoughts about how the health crisis is affecting healthcare business valuation.