PE Checking into More Hospitals in 2010

Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe has acquired a majority stake in Springstone and committed $100 million for the development of behavioral and psychiatric hospitals. Springstone owns and operates a psychiatric hospital in Newburgh, IN. The company intends to develop and acquire additional psychiatric hospitals throughout the U.S.

Since the beginning of 2007, 51 companies in the Hospital and Inpatient Services industry have been involved in PE deals, according to the PitchBook Platform. Deal activity in the industry is bustling this year with 13 deals already completed and 4 more announced but still in play, compared to only 4 deals for all of 2009 and 11 for 2008. This surge in activity is likely due to the recent healthcare reform which provided clarity for a number of issues that hung over the industry in 2009 as well as the ongoing macro trends of the aging baby boomers and increased healthcare spending. During the same time period, 41 PE investors completed investments in the industry. The most active include CCMP Capital Advisors (5 deals) and The Blackstone Group (4)