dealmaking Archives - HEALTH & LIFE SCIENCES NEWS

HPE New York 2020: Big Bankers Breakfast Discussion

by McDermott Will & Emery | Nov 6, 2020 | Health M&A, Health Private Equity, Life Sciences

In this lively panel session, global heads of healthcare at top banks analyzed the current market climate for healthcare services investing and provided their invaluable insights on hot sectors, growth strategies and the dealmaking outlook for 2021. McDermott counsel Charlie Ditkoff moderated this panel featuring Daniel Decelles, global co-head of healthcare investment banking at Jefferies; Matthew McAskin, senior managing director at Evercore; Jim Forbes, vice chairman of Morgan Stanley; Mark Francis, managing director and head of the healthcare group at Houlihan Lokey; and Cheairs Porter, head of the healthcare and life sciences group at Harris Williams.

Below are the top takeaways for HPE New York 2020 half day session: Big Bankers Breakfast Discussion, click here to access the full webinar.

Access the PDF here

The public markets have recovered remarkably from the lows of March and April 2020 and are currently seeing unprecedented deal activity, Mr. McAskin said. However, amid that activity, “there is no one solution that is working,” he said. “We are seeing financing work, we are seeing creative transaction structures work, and we’re seeing a resurgence of initial public offerings and special purpose acquisition companies like we have not seen for years or for decades. It’s a very confusing time for a lot of people, because we’re seeing these micro-cycles occurring very quickly.”

As might be expected in light of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, valuations for tech-enabled healthcare businesses have risen significantly this year, and that trend will likely continue into 2021. “I [...]

Continue Reading

Tips for Conducting Effective Due Diligence in an Auction Process

by Danielle E. Golino | Sep 12, 2019 | Health M&A, Health Private Equity, Hospitals & Health Systems, PPM/ASC

In today’s highly competitive healthcare environment, investors may find themselves in an auction process where they must conduct due diligence pre-exclusivity. With limited time and mounting pressure, it can be difficult to know what issues to prioritize. Here are some practical tips for focusing your due diligence efforts strategically in a pre-exclusivity setting:

Quality of Earnings: Against the backdrop of high valuations, quality of earnings should be a key diligence focus, particularly in the context of high-complexity transactions such as corporate carve-outs, partnerships with corporates and public-private pairings. For example, it is critical to examine the pro forma EBITDA to see if it excludes costs or includes questionable adjustments or add-backs.
Timeline: How competitive is the auction process and when are bids due? Does the buyer plan to conduct a full due diligence review pre-exclusivity, or instead look for big ticket liabilities that have a potential to impact valuation or derail the transaction?
Legal Showstoppers: Keep an eye out for legal showstoppers—issues that go to the core of the business, are not isolated incidents and are not fixable through purchase price adjustments, indemnification, escrow or enhanced compliance measures. For example, referral relationships that are based on illegal arrangements, systemic upcoding, quality of care issues, tenuous relationships with hospital partners, untenable and promised salary increases, a culture of non-compliance, or a retiring physician workforce without adequate succession planning.

As you plan your due diligence, keep in mind [...]

Continue Reading

Tips for Winning Competitive Health Care Auctions

by Bernard Grondin | Jul 18, 2019 | Health Private Equity, PPM/ASC

The current environment for healthcare transactions is fiercely competitive with high prices, tough deal terms and limited time for proper due diligence. In terms of both value and number of deals, 2018 was the biggest year for health care private equity (PE) since the financial crisis. More large cap PE firms are moving into the small and mid-cap space, increasing competition. At the same time, non-health-care entrants are competing with US and international PE, especially in the area of physician practice management and other related health care services.

Faced with this stiff competition, sponsors are getting more creative in their healthcare partnerships, whether that means partnering with management teams on new strategies, partnering with large strategics or even with one another. These innovative collaborations can open up more investable opportunities, including public to privates and secondary trades among sponsors.

Even with these creative new opportunities, submitting a winning bid for a health care services business in a hotly contested auction can be a Herculean task. When outbidding the competition is not an option, here are some tips to help differentiate your offer:

(more…)

Collaborative Transformation: Life Sciences Partnerships – Delivering Deals that Work

by McDermott Will & Emery | May 22, 2019 | Life Sciences

The life sciences marketplace has been ripe for collaboration for the past decade, but new players, new technologies and new regulations are changing the space. Traditional life sciences companies are working together in new and exciting ways, bringing a variety of deal structures and new complexities into the landscape. Our Collaborative Transformation podcast episode “Driving the Deal: Life Sciences Partnership Opportunities, Pitfalls and Impact” with Emmanuelle Trombe and Gary Howes explores these issues in depth. Below are key takeaways from the episode, which you can listen to in full here.

It’s not just new players changing the space—it’s new approaches by traditional players. “It’s not only about pharma and biotech,” Trombe said. “We are seeing collaboration with health care players such as payers, insurers and providers.” Technology companies are also entering the space, bringing financial and philanthropic investments to the table. “People are still trying to do the same things, but they’re getting there in slightly different ways,” Howes said. Collaborations are also shifting from exclusive collaborations to more open collaborations, where partners are more closely involved in the product lifecycle, co-developing products and sharing technology, data and profits.

Bridging the gap between different industry cultures is crucial to building a successful collaboration. Product lifecycles and regulatory regimes vary across industries, but the gap between technology and health care/life sciences is particularly broad. “Life sciences health care companies looking at a lifecycle for their [...]

Continue Reading