Here are five major physician group deals Becker's has reported on in 2024:
1. In November, Dallas-based GI Alliance entered a definitive agreement with Dublin, Ohio-based pharmaceutical distributor and healthcare services company Cardinal Health in which Cardinal will acquire a majority stake in GI Alliance.
Gastroenterology group management company GI Alliance is holding its position as the largest network of GI providers in the U.S., with over 300 practices in its network and more than 900 affiliated providers in 2024.
Cardinal Health would take over a 71% stake valued at $2.8 billion from a combination of physician owners and funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management. The acquisition marks Cardinal Health’s first venture into gastroenterology.
2. Nashville, Tenn.-based Rural Healthcare Group, part of private equity firm Kinderhook Industries, agreed to acquire financially troubled Steward Health Care's physician group for $245 million in cash. The sale is part of the hospital system's plan to mitigate financial distress — Steward sought Chapter 11 protection on May 6 and is required to sell its assets through auctions.
Pending approval, Rural Healthcare Group would take on Stewardship's system — an integration of Steward Health Care Network and the Steward Medical Group, a primary-care network of around 5,000 employed and affiliated providers.
3. In April, San Diego-based Ivy Fertility, backed by InTandem Capital Partners, acquired Dallas IVF, a physician practice that specializes in advanced reproductive technology, in-vitro fertilization and third-party reproduction. The Ivy Fertility network now includes 52 reproductive endocrinologists in 27 locations across nine states.
4. Integrated Oncology Network, backed by private equity firm Silver Oak Services Partners, acquired Urology Partners in Cleveland. Integrated Oncology now has more than 60 facilities across the country.
5. In March, Optum, parent company of ASC chain SCA Health, received approval to bypass a state review of its planned purchase of physician-owned Corvallis (Ore.) Clinic. An emergency application was filed March 7 so the clinic "can continue serving their patients and communities with the care they need. As outlined in numerous filings and discussions with the state since December 2023, the Corvallis Clinic has significant longstanding financial issues that have come to a head, necessitating this emergency filing," a spokesperson for Optum told Becker's.
Because of a lack of cash stability, the clinic did not have time to undergo more regulatory review without more cost-cutting measures that would impact care, Corvallis Clinic's attorneys said, and could have been forced to close.