2011 Long-Term Care M&A Activity Finishes Strong The long-term care (LTC) merger & acquisition (M&A) market saw its best year in 2011 since peaking in 2006 and 2007 in terms of publicly announced transactions and dollar volume. Results are still filtering in, but with a final year-end projection of 150 transactions, 2011 is slated to be the most active year in LTC M&A since the late 1990s. The first three quarters of the year alone exceeded transaction counts for full years 2008 through 2010 with 118 deals.
Independent hospitals have successfully faced difficult circumstances in the past, but new challenges are pushing the hospital industry onto more difficult footing. Fundamental, long-term industry challenges, including competitive disadvantages in size and scale, limited access to capital and competition for and with physicians, have increased the need for independent hospitals to re-examine their operational and financial strengths and weaknesses