Long-term care mergers and acquisitions increase 13.6 percent
LOS ANGELES: Publicly announced mergers and acquisitions involving senior living communities and skilled nursing facilities totaled 176 in the first quarter, with assisted living deals accounting for a plurality, according to data released Tuesday by LevinPro LTC.
Although the total is less than the 190 transactions announced in the fourth quarter, it exceeds the 155 public deals seen in the first quarter of last year, for a year-over-year increase of 13.6%.
Additionally, the $5.79 billion spent on first-quarter 2025 transactions was a 74.9% increase from the $3.31 billion spent on first-quarter transactions in 2024 and a 192.4% increase from the $1.98 billion spent in the fourth quarter of 2024, based on disclosed prices, according LevinPro LTC.
The 7.4% decrease in the number of transitions in the first quarter compared with the fourth quarter of 2024 was attributed to a weak January, which saw only 47 deals.
“January may have just been an anomaly, as February’s deal count rose to 60 transactions and jumped again to 69 deals in March,” according to the report.
“We have seen M&A activity accelerate throughout 2025, driven by improvements in the capital markets and in the operating environment for seniors housing and care properties,” stated Ben Swett, a senior care analyst and associate editor at Irving Levin Associates. “The second quarter has already started at the fastest pace of M&A dealmaking in history.”
Assisted living transactions accounted for 41.5% of deals in the first quarter, followed by skilled nursing at 37.5%, independent living at 16%, continuing care retirement / life plan communities and affordable senior housing communities at 2% each, and active adult communities at 1%.
“We did not see portfolio deals come back into the M&A market in the first quarter,” Swett said. “But we hear from a variety of dealmakers, including brokers, buyers and lenders, that there are more portfolios being marketed for sale and/or are slated for closing in the second quarter.”