Q3 2026

Healthcare M&A Update

In Q3, the S&P 500 Health Care Sector Index increased 6.0%, outperforming a 2.0% increase in the S&P 500 over the same period.
The median EV/EBITDA multiple for reported private equity deals in the Healthcare sector decreased to 11.9x in YTD Q3 2026 from 15.3x in 2025, but increased for strategic buyers to 13.4x from 9.0x in the prior year.
M&A deal volume in the sector increased 15.9% in Q3 to 1,051 deals from 907 in Q2, and increased 19.8% from 877 deals in Q3 of the prior year.
North America was the most active region in Q3 with 497 deals. A notable North American deal was AbbVie’s $10.1B acquisition of Apogee Therapeutics, a Massachusetts-based developer of longacting antibodies for inflammatory and immunology diseases.
Total capital invested in M&A transactions decreased 33.8% in Q3 to $96.7B from $146.1B in Q2, which was inflated by several megadeals, including the $20.5B Blackstone-led buyout of Hologic and Danaher’s $10.2B acquisition of Masimo. Capital invested was still up 15.0% from $84.1B in Q3 of the prior year.