Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Angela Humphreys was one of 15 healthcare industry leaders to share insights on the state of mergers and acquisitions in the healthcare industry in the COVID-19 environment for an article in The Art of Change series published by Jarrard Phillips Cate & Hancock.
In response to a question about the pace of transactions impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, Angela responded, “We are already are seeing an uptick. There were a number of transactions in process pre-COVID that temporarily were put on hold, especially transactions in the provider space involving elective procedures. Now that those procedures are resuming, buyers are picking up where they left off, albeit with revisions to deal terms, including contingent payments, increased rollover equity and, in some cases, seller financing.”
When asked about the biggest barriers to closing transactions in this environment, Angela stated, “I would say there really are two. The first is the lack of availability of debt on favorable terms. The second is the inability to meet in person. Zoom is great, but before a buyer pays a seller millions of dollars and a seller takes on a new business partner, the parties still want to look each other in the eye and shake hands (or at least fist bump). We have had transactions where that is the single gating item to closing.”
The full article, “Of Pasta and Predictions…M&A Insights From 15 Industry Experts,” was released as part of The Art of Change publication series by Jarrard Phillips Cate & Hancock on July 31.