Gastroenterology has seen an increase in consolidation as private equity eyes investment and demand for procedures grows.
Here are five major deals that have shook up the gastroenterology industry since 2020:
1. In 2020, private equity firm Webster Equity Partners established One GI through a partnership with Gastro One. The Brentwood, Tenn.-based company now supports 195 physicians in 65 locations.
2. In 2021, Miami-based Gastro Health was sold to private equity company Omers. The enterprise value was estimated around $950 million, according to a 2022 report from VMG Health. The company was previously owned by Audax Private Equity, which acquired Gastro Health in 2016.
3. In 2022, Southlake, Texas-based GI Alliance and ASC giant United Surgical Partners International inked a joint venture deal for two Texas endoscopy centers. The partnership includes GAB Endoscopy Center in San Antonio and South Plains Endoscopy Center in Lubbock. Both are co-owned by GI Alliance's physician partners.
4. In 2022, GI Alliance received a $785 million private equity investment from Apollo Global Management, which agreed to take a stake in the company as a part of a physician-led buyout. Through the deal, GI Alliance's physician owners agreed to buy back a minority equity stake of about 30 percent from Waud Capital Partners, the practice's private equity investor. According to a report from Bloomberg, the deal gives GI Alliance and physicians more autonomy, putting them in majority control over the board.
5. This year, 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. The acquisition marks Cardinal Health’s first venture into gastroenterology.