2012 Key Highlights

  • The most active acquirer in 2012 was McKesson Corporation with six transactions. TPG Capital, with five transactions, was the industry’s most active financial sponsor during the year.
  • Private equity acquirers were responsible for four of the industry’s top ten highest value deals in 2012.
  • Health Information Technology ("HIT") deals continued to dominate in terms of transaction volume, accounting for 41 percent of the industry’s aggregate deal flow. Strategic buyers represented 76 percent of the HIT segment’s volume.
  • There were 93 financially sponsored transactions in 2012 with an aggregate value of $7.72 billion, representing 24 percent of the total volume and 54 percent of the total value, respectively.

2012 Key Trends

  • Total transaction volume in 2012 increased by 21 percent over 2011, from 315 to 380.
  • Total transaction value in 2012 rose by five percent over 2011, from $11.36 billion to $11.96 billion.
  • The median revenue multiple improved from 1.5x in 2011 to 2.3x in 2012. The median EBITDA multiple increased from 9.0x in 2011 to 9.8x in 2012.

M&A Market Overview

Berkery Noyes tracked 963 transactions between 2010 and 2012, of which 276 disclosed financial terms, and calculated the aggregate transaction value to be $27.17 billion. Based on known transaction values, we project values of 687 undisclosed transactions to be $8.83 billion, totaling $36.01 billion worth of transactions tracked over the past three years.

Disclosed median enterprise value multiples for all segments combined in this report during the last 36 months were 2.0x revenue and 10.5x EBITDA.

The most active acquirer by volume, either directly or through an affiliated business between 2010 and 2012, was Thomas H. Lee Partners with 12 transactions.