Liza O'Connor

A newly proposed bill in California could signal a shift in healthcare M&A. AB 1415 would require state notification for private equity acquisitions of healthcare entities, if signed into law. The legislation points to a broader trend of increased regulatory oversight that could influence dealmaking across the US. For investors, success in this evolving landscape will require navigating greater transparency and demonstrating how transactions contribute positively to the healthcare ecosystem. The quality of future deals will be measured not just by financial returns, but by their alignment with regulatory expectations and their impact on patient care. Read more about the proposed bill: https://okt.to/8IJMAz #HealthcareMand #PrivateEquity #regulatorycompliance #AMon

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Medtech is having a moment, and the data in both reports suggests it is more than cyclical. Bain puts medtech buyout deal value at an estimated $33 billion in 2025, nearly doubling the prior year, with volume up nearly 20% to 88 deals. Blackstone and TPG's $18.3 billion take-private of Hologic accounted for more than half of that total, and Carlyle's acquisition of Vantive, the renal care business carved out from Baxter, was another signal transaction. Bain notes that medtech has shown outsized growth since 2020 and that investors are successfully deploying proven value-creation playbooks centered on revenue growth, margin expansion, and multiple expansion through carve-outs and public-to-private structures. Healthcare IT produces the highest MOIC in Bain's analysis at 2.3x median, but medtech's 1.9x median and 17% IRR across buyout deals since 2017 reflects a maturing and credible asset class with durable return characteristics, particularly in large-scale transactions where PE ownership adds genuine operational value. McKinsey's operating environment analysis adds the demand context. The shift of care to ambulatory and home settings, expanded ASC procedure approvals, and the Rural Health Transformation Program's $50 billion in technology-linked federal funding all create sustained device and infrastructure demand. On the risk side, Section 232 tariffs and most-favored-nation pricing introduce real cost exposure for manufacturers with global supply chains. The companies that anticipated supply chain localization are structurally better positioned than those responding reactively. The executive talent angle here is one I watch closely. The most sought-after leaders in medtech right now are those who built operational resilience during the COVID-era supply chain dislocation and who have since demonstrated the commercial acuity to drive growth in an ASC and home-care-led market. That combination of supply chain credibility, site-of-care commercial fluency, and technology integration experience is genuinely rare at the platform CEO and COO level.

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