Barely into 2022, we can safely say that the M&A floodgates have opened in the senior care market. We already announced that dealmaking hit a record-high in terms of activity in the fourth quarter of 2021, with 135 deals and counting, and we have to point out that our sister publication covering the healthcare market tracked a record-number of 2,145 transactions in the other 12 healthcare sectors combined in calendar year 2021, which is a 44% increase from the previous annual record-high of 1,490 deals in 2018.
We have never seen numbers like these, but what is even more impressive is that with every passing day in 2022, we learn of more and more closings that occurred in the last week of 2021 that were never publicly disclosed. So, activity was really off the charts, and January has started off strong with over 40 transaction announcements in senior care, so far.
So, buyers are finding sellers, and lenders willing to support deals, all of which has made brokers very happy. How much values are driving M&A activity, or whether M&A activity is affecting values, we will have to wait and see next month in our annual Senior Care Acquisition Report.
