The healthcare mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market remained active in Q2 2025, with several sectors including physician practice management (PPM), clinical research, and digital health experiencing continued investment and platform growth. While overall deal volume remained relatively steady compared to Q1, certain segments showed signs of acceleration as investors responded to shifting market dynamics and growing demand for outpatient ambulatory care settings.
Private equity (PE) activity continued to shape the transaction landscape, with firms expanding existing platforms and targeting strategic add-on acquisitions in areas such as ENT, OB/GYN, behavioral health, oncology and ambulatory surgery. Strategic buyers also played a large role as they focused on regional growth. At the same time, macroeconomic uncertainty and ongoing regulatory developments including scrutiny of Medicare Advantage plans and changing Medicaid reimbursement policies tempered activity in sectors like managed care and home health.
This report provides an overview of key developments in Q2, including notable transaction trends and sector specific highlights.
Physician Practice Management
The PPM sector remained a strong sector within the healthcare industry in Q2, with LevinPro reporting approximately 230 total PPM transactions in the first half of 2025.
In April, two of the larger medical specialty platforms announced significant expansions. According to its press release, GI Alliance (recently acquired by Cardinal Health (NYSE: CAH)), one of the nation's largest gastroenterology platforms, "expanded its specialty care footprint into urology" by acquiring both Texas-based Urology America—along with its staff of over 110 providers across Colorado, Louisiana, Tennessee and Texas—and Potomac Urology, which has offices located throughout the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. OneOncology (backed by Cencora (NYSE: COR) and PE firm TPG), one of the nation's largest community oncology platforms, partnered with Beacon Clinic, an 11-provider, multispecialty practice based in North Idaho, and then expanded its presence in the Northeast by partnering with New York Oncology Hematology (NYOH). NYOH features a team of 60 providers.
This type of significant expansion continued throughout the rest of the quarter. For example, on June 4, Together Women's Health (TWH) (backed by Shore Capital Partners) announced its partnership with Memphis-based MidSouth OBGYN. TWH is a management services organization (MSO) with an affiliate network comprised of 20 practices, approximately 175 providers, and over 40 locations across Alabama, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee. According to LevinPro, this is the sixth OB/GYN specialty deal of 2025. On June 2, Elevate ENT Partners (backed by Audax Private Equity) announced the acquisition of Louisiana-based Camellia ENT, boosting its physician partnership presence in the Bayou State. Elevate ENT Partners now includes over 110 otolaryngology centers and 170 physicians. Meanwhile, on June 4, another ENT platform, ENT Partners (backed by Candescent Partners), already with a sizable footprint in the Midwest, announced its acquisition of Illinois-based ENT Specialists, marking its third transaction of 2025 following its acquisition of Currence Physician Solutions, a revenue cycle management company, on May 1 and Baltimore-based Alan E. Oshinsky, MD, PA in January.
After partnering with M33 Growth in February, pediatric primary care platform Pediatrica Health Group grew quickly, performing a Q2 hat-trick in Florida with acquisitions of Daytona Beach Pediatrics (April 8), Pinnacles Peds Care (May 6) and Coconut Creek Pediatrics (June 3).
Finally, continuing the trend from the last several quarters, dentistry continued to dominate deal volume count within the PPM sector, with around 115 reported transactions as of the end of June. On May 21, The Smilist Management (backed by Zenyth Partners) announced the purchase of BrookBeam Dental, a self-labeled dental partnership organization with 16 offices in New York. The same month, Wisconsin-based Specialty Smile Partners (a dental services organization backed by Blue Sea Capital), with offices in 35 states, announced it had acquired Little Gators Pediatric Dentistry.
Clinical Research Organizations
The Q2 deal market saw a strong number of clinical research-related deals, especially involving clinical research organizations (CRO) and data solutions technologies.
On April 14, BayPine announced its definitive agreement to acquire CenExel Clinical Research (CenExel), a clinical trial site network with tremendous expertise in central nervous system research and other therapeutic areas. CenExel supports various stages of clinical development, including assistance with protocol development, patient recruitment, data collection and other operational needs, and will complement BayPine's focus on digital transformation to support data infrastructure and use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools. The transaction closed at the end of June.
In May, Clario (backed by Astorg and Nordic Capital) announced it had completed its acquisition of WCG's electronic clinical outcome assessment (eCOA) platform. Clario provides digital endpoint data solutions to the clinical trial industry, and the acquisition of WCG's eCOA business will enhance Clario's ability to deliver high-quality data for neuroscience clinical trials. On May 14, Julius Clinical, a leading CRO based in the Netherlands and backed by Ampersand Capital Partners, and Peachtree BioResearch Solutions, a CRO based in Georgia, announced a merger after collaborating for nearly a decade. This CRO merger combines deep expertise in management of Phase I – III clinical trials with a focus on central nervous system, cardio-metabolic, renal and rare diseases research.
Lightship, a clinical trial service provider specializing in hybrid trial models and mobile care, merged with Circuit Clinical, a community-based research site network, in early June. Together, the companies intend to leverage their vast knowledge of clinical trials and offer sponsors, CROs and healthcare systems a solution to more effectively manage clinical trials and produce better outcomes for patients. This merger represents yet another step to consolidate a traditionally fragmented industry.
Ambulatory Surgery Centers
Making a $3.9 billion splash in Q2, Ascension Health, one of the nation's largest Catholic and nonprofit health systems, announced it entered into a definitive agreement to acquire AMSURG, an independent leader in ambulatory surgery center (ASC) services. The transaction will add more than 250 ambulatory surgery centers across 34 states to Ascension's existing network, enhancing its ability to provide care in gastroenterology, ophthalmology, orthopedics and other specialties through community-based settings that are more accessible to patients.
Meanwhile, according to a June 17 news release, after considering an offer received earlier this year, Surgery Partners (Nasdaq: SGRY) announced that it rejected a proposal from Bain Capital to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Surgery Partners not already owned by Bain Capital, concluding that the value and growth prospects of the company were best served by remaining independent. This announcement comes off the heels of Surgery Partners' May 15 earnings call, where the company announced 2025 projected revenues between $3.3 billion and $3.45 billion, with adjusted EBITDA expected in the range of $555 million to $565 million. May also saw Surgery Partners expand its California footprint by acquiring two new surgery centers in the Bay Area, Advanced Surgery Center and Montpelier Surgery Center.
ASC operator Unifeye Vision Partners (backed by Waud Capital Partners) announced its acquisition of Brooks Eye Center, a Texas ophthalmology practice and surgery center, on May 7. Unifeye Vision Partners supports a network of 64 clinic locations and 19 ASCs. The University of California Davis Health also announced plans to open a new ASC in July. The $589 million investment will feature a 262,228-square foot facility with 14 operating rooms, 59 pre- and post-operative recovery bays, 13 single-occupant extended-stay recovery rooms, 96 clinical exam rooms, and 19 clinical treatment rooms.
Other notable deals included PE firm Wellspring Capital Management acquiring Georgia-based Summit Spine & Joint Centers in April. Summit operates 17 ASCs and 44 clinics across Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. Finally, PE firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe purchased Constitution Surgery Alliance (CSA) on June 16. CSA operates 16 surgery centers across five states and reportedly performs over 100,000 procedures annually in the ophthalmology, ENT, urology and GI specialties.
Hospitals & Health Systems
Transactions in the hospital and health system sector remained steady in Q2, with activity primarily driven by regional market dominance and financial pressures.
Regional health systems were active this quarter, with several health systems announcing or completing transactions to expand their market presence, many citing the ability to deliver increased access to care as a factor influencing such transactions. For example, Pennsylvania-based Doylestown Health officially joined the University of Pennsylvania Health System on April 1 and will now operate under the name Penn Medicine Doylestown Health. In May, New York-based Northwell Health and Connecticut-based Nuvance Health completed their merger with the integrated regional health system operating 28 hospitals and having a $22.6 billion operating budget. Also in May, Maryland-based TidalHealth entered into a definitive agreement to merge with Maryland-based Atlantic General Hospital. Ohio-based Firelands Health acquired Ohio-based The Bellevue Hospital on May 17, following approval of Bellevue's Chapter 11 reorganization plan and member substitution agreement.
Regional transactions continued in June, with Georgia-based community health system, Houston Healthcare, officially becoming part of Atlanta-based Emory Healthcare following regulatory approval by the Georgia Attorney General. Ohio-based TriHealth also announced that it had entered into an agreement to acquire Ohio-based Clinton Memorial Hospital, a 140-bed acute care hospital. Iowa-based UnityPoint Health similarly announced it had entered into a letter of intent to acquire Iowa-based MercyOne Siouxland Medical Center.
On the other hand, some national health systems continue to strategically divest their portfolios. Community Health Systems (NYSE: CYH) continued to sell hospitals to reduce its debt exposure in line with its $1 billion divestiture plan. As an example, Duke Health completed its $284 million acquisition of North Carolina-based Lake Norman Regional Medical Center from subsidiaries of CHS and assumed operations on April 1. Ascension Health also entered into a definitive agreement to acquire from CHS its 80% ownership in Cedar Park Regional Medical Center for $460 million in cash. The transaction closed on July 1, with Ascension assuming full ownership given that it already had a 20% ownership stake in the hospital. University of Mississippi Medical Center similarly completed its acquisition of Merit Health Madison in Mississippi from a subsidiary of CHS, which now operates as UMMC Madison. Ascension similarly announced the planned divestiture of its southwest region in Q2, which includes four hospitals, 35 outpatient clinics and an ASC, to Beacon Health System. The acquisition was completed on July 1.
Some national health systems appear to be opting for add-on transactions of ancillary services within existing markets instead of large-scale geographic expansions. One significant example of this in Q2 was Ascension's announcement of its intent to acquire AMSURG, described above, which will strengthen Ascension's outpatient care offerings.
Q2 also saw several hospital and health system transactions that were called off. For example, in May, Maryland-based Adventist HealthCare abandoned its plan to acquire Howard University Hospital, an academic hospital in Washington, D.C., Oregon-based Samaritan Health Services and Santiam Hospital abandoned their proposed merger, and Oregon Health & Science University and Legacy Health announced their mutual agreement to terminate their planned merger. And in June, Florida-based Baptist Health announced it was terminating its longstanding clinical partnership with UF Health, Valley Medical Center announced it was ending its 15-year strategic affiliation with UW Medicine, and Missouri-based Phelps Health and Memorial Hospital District ended discussions about a potential merger.
Home Health, Hospice Care & Personal Care Services
Despite earlier positive expectations, economic and regulatory uncertainties have put a damper on home health and hospice transactions in Q2. Medicaid concerns have largely resolved positively for personal care providers, but proposed home health rate adjustments could continue to pressure transactions in that sector, although there is a general belief that a number of significant home health and hospice providers are primed to come to market. However, there were still some notable transactions announced or closed in Q2. In June, DispatchHealth and Medically Home closed their merger first announced in Q1, creating one of the nation's largest hospital-at-home providers. Moving forward the entities will operate under the DispatchHealth brand, and the company will provide inpatient hospital-level and emergency-level care to patients at home.
There were also several notable transactions in the home care space. Most significantly, in June, Aveanna Healthcare Holdings (Nasdaq: AVAH) closed its acquisition of Thrive Skilled Pediatric Care (TSPC), first announced in April. Aveanna is one of the nation's leading home care platforms. According to Aveanna, the addition of TSPC, one of the largest independent providers of pediatric home care with 23 locations in seven states including Arizona, Georgia, Kansas, New Mexico, North Carolina, Virginia and Texas, will allow Aveanna to expand its home care services to be able to care for children and enter into two new states.
In April, Active Day, a provider of adult day services and home care services announced its acquisition of AllCaregivers and New Generations Home Care of Florence, South Carolina. Active Day believes both targets will help expand Active Day's presence in South Carolina to be able to provide in-home services along with adult day services. Additionally, PE firm Havencrest Capital Management announced its acquisition of Home Care Angels, an Illinois-based at-home personal care services provider, and Private Duty Home Healthcare, a Michigan-based personal care and private nursing services provider. The companies will be folded into the firm's Avid Health at Home platform and help expand the platform's geographic footprint in the Midwest.
Digital Health & Health Information Technology
Digital health transactions started off strong in Q1, and that trend continued in Q2. In fact, we have seen quite an uptick in deal activity in the digital health space. Much of this uptick can be attributed to the focus on AI, as AI's transformative capabilities in areas such as improving diagnostic accuracy, streamlining health workflows, and accelerating drug discovery continue to attract significant market interest. Further, deal activity in Q2 indicates that we may begin to see a shift to larger transactions and acquisitions of more mature platforms instead of the smaller transactions we have seen over the last few years.
Several noteworthy transactions were announced or closed in Q2. In April, Teladoc Health (NYSE: TDOC), a global leader in virtual care, acquired UpLift, a tech-enabled provider of mental heath therapy, psychiatry, and medication management services for $45 million. This acquisition supports the company's strategy to further enhance its BetterHelp segment to access benefits coverage for mental health services. Additionally, Transcarent completed its merger with Accolade, the leading health advocacy, expert medical opinion, and virtual primary care company in the market, first announced in January 2025, for $621 million. With the completion of this transaction, Transcarent's AI-powered wayfinding and comprehensive cancer, surgery, and weight management care–along with its Pharmacy Benefit offering—combined with Accolade's leadership in health advocacy, will offer a broad array of choices to make it easier for patients to get the services they need. Also, Centauri Health Solutions, an Arizona-based health information technology company, acquired MedAllies, a New York-based health information service provider and qualified health information network. This acquisition will improve Centauri's solutions with integration, messaging and record location services, enhancing access to care and financial support for patients.
In June, Hims & Hers, a health and wellness platform operating in the United States, announced plans to acquire ZAVA, a digital health platform in Europe. This acquisition is expected to accelerate the expansion of Hims & Hers globally and continue to provide healthcare that is personal, trustworthy and fast.
Behavioral Health
There was an abundance of mergers and acquisitions in the behavioral health sector in Q2, primarily driven by PE investment.
The autism and mental health subsectors were particularly active. For example, in April, PAX Health (backed by HCAP Partners and investment management firm Hamilton Lane (Nasdaq: HLNE)), announced its acquisition of Richardson Psychiatric Associates, an outpatient psychiatric practice, and US Pediatric Partners (backed by Webster Equity Partners) acquired Hope Services, a community-based mental health provider in North Carolina. That same month, Colorado-based Health Solutions announced its acquisition of Mind Springs Health, a mental health center in Colorado.
In May, California-based Alongside (backed by NewSpring Capital and Fletch Equity), a leading provider of applied behavior analysis (ABA) services for children with autism across Southern California, completed its acquisition of San Diego ABA, an autism services provider. Tennessee-based Acute Behavioral Health (backed by Petra Capital Partners, Harbert Management Corporation, Elm Creek Partners and Granite Growth Health Partners) also completed its acquisition of North Carolina-based Oakwood Treatment Center, an inpatient psychiatric treatment facility for adolescents.
Some PE firms also scooped up new platforms. NexPhase Capital acquired California-based Behavior Frontiers, an autism therapy provider located across 12 states, and, similarly, The Graph Group acquired Louisiana-based Seaside Health System, an inpatient behavioral health provider offering a broad range of services to adults. Clearview Capital also announced the acquisition of Advantage Behavioral Health, an outpatient mental healthcare treatment provider.
Throughout the quarter, we noted behavioral health providers continuing to implement value-based care and leverage technology to improve their service offering. For example, behavioral health provider Lucet (backed by Cobalt Ventures), acquired Emcara Health (previously PopHealthCare, a GuideWell Company), a value-based medical group that delivers home-based care. SUN Behavioral Health (backed by LLR Partners, Petra Capital Partners and NewSpring Capital), a provider of inpatient and outpatient psychiatric services, announced its acquisition of the home and community-based services division of Seaside Healthcare, which is backed by Pharos Capital Group. On the technology front, in addition to Teladoc's acquisition of UpLift, discussed above, Valor Healthcare completed its acquisition of Mission Critical Psychological Services, a telehealth-focused behavioral health provider for federal government agencies, government contractors and first responder populations.
Managed Care & Value-Based Care
In the managed care space, Q2 was relatively slow. The uncertainty surrounding the federal budget—including specifically any potential cuts to Medicaid—is likely lowering the appetite for deals in this sector. The Trump administration's growing scrutiny of Medicare Advantage plans is likewise likely impacting deal flow in this sector.
Notwithstanding these sector headwinds, there were a few notable deals in Q2 in which health plans acquired not only other plans, but digital health technology firms to enhance their own clinical support tools. In April, CareSource, a national nonprofit managed care organization (MCO), announced it completed the acquisition of Commonwealth Care Alliance. Commonwealth Care Alliance is a nonprofit MCO which insures nearly 50,000 Massachusetts residents who are dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid. Later that month, Carenet Health—a leading provider of AI-enabled digital health solutions, including clinical decision support, customer relationship management and chronic care management—announced the acquisition of Balto Health Services, an MCO which operates in the United States, El Salvador and the Philippines and coordinates the care of over 1.5 million managed care members. Following this interesting digital health-MCO combination, Balto Health Services will operate as Carenet Launch.
In May, CareSource, a nonprofit MCO, announced it is pursuing an affiliation with a Wisconsin-based Medicaid managed care provider, Lakeland Care. Lakeland Care concentrates on long-term care and support for Wisconsin's elderly and disabled communities.
In June, Aledade, the nation's largest network of independent primary care providers, announced it acquired the Michigan-based value-based care operations—including both an accountable care organization (ACO) and physician organization—of CCA Holding Company, expanding Aledade's presence in the state. Finally, Oliver Wyman, the management consulting subsidiary of Marsh McLennan (NYSE: MMC), announced it entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Validate Health. Validate Health is a healthcare analytics firm that provides specialized actuarial and financial optimization services to ACOs.
Pharma Services, Pharmacy & Pharmacy Benefit Managers
For the pharmacy industry sector, Q2 saw a slowing M&A market, which was complicated by factors such as regulatory uncertainty and ever-evolving tariff policies. However, there were some notable transactions in the space. In May, Rite Aid announced that it filed for bankruptcy and, later that month, CVS Health (NYSE: CVS) announced that the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of New Jersey approved CVS' proposal to purchase prescription files of 625 Rite Aid pharmacies in 15 states that CVS serves, as well as 64 additional Rite Aid locations in Idaho, Oregon and Washington. The acquisition remains subject to various regulatory approvals.
In June, MacroHealth, a healthcare technology company, announced its acquisition of Foundational Pharmacy Strategies (FPS), an entity that manages drug spend by pharmacies and helps develop solutions for employer groups and benefit advisors. The parties anticipate the transaction will increase drug pricing transparency and make FPS' benefits more affordable.
Conclusion
Healthcare M&A activity in Q2 2025 reflected a mix of strategic expansion and cautious optimism. Investors continued to pursue high demand specialties and scalable platforms, with strong activity in PPM, behavioral health, clinical research, and digital health. Many of these transactions centered on enhancing regional presence, improving outpatient access, and integrating technology to drive operational efficiency and long-term value.
While PE remained a major force across nearly all subsectors, deal activity in areas like managed care and home health was more measured as stakeholders weighed potential policy changes and reimbursement pressures. At the same time, several hospital systems focused on portfolio realignment, either by pursuing targeted acquisitions to support outpatient growth or by shedding assets to manage financial risk.
Heading into Q3, we anticipate continued interest in specialty platforms, further consolidation in outpatient and community-based care, and increased focus on digital health solutions that support care coordination and value-based delivery. As regulatory and economic uncertainties persist, we expect buyers to remain selective, with a focus on assets that offer both clinical relevance and long-term sustainability.
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