Strategic Sales Dominate Healthcare Exits in '09

RoundTable Healthcare Partners has completed its sale of Ascent Healthcare Solutions to Stryker (NYSE: SYK) for $525 million. The provider of reprocessed medical devices also paid out a $35 million dividend to its investors before the sale, bringing total proceeds to $560 million. Other investors in Ascent Healthcare included Apax Partners, Delphi Ventures and Valley Ventures.

There were 33 successful healthcare company exits in 2009, with distributions totaling over $8 billion, according to the PitchBook Platform. The biggest exit of the year was The Blackstone Group's sale of Stiefel Laboratories for $2.9 billion to GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSX). Sales to strategic acquirers like the Stiefel deal accounted for 58% of the exits and over $6 billion of the proceeds for the year. Pharmaceutical companies were the top-most exited firm type with six deals, followed by hospitals and inpatient centers with three. Given that private equity firms have over 300 healthcare companies that are four years or older in their portfolios, the exit markets will certainly get tested more in 2010.