Private equity is making deeper, more deliberate bets across healthcare — from post-acute care and pharmacy to revenue cycle and supply chain infrastructure — as a new wave of companies move off public markets and into private ownership.
Here are six recent deals that highlight private equity’s expanding role across the healthcare landscape.
1. Select Medical to go private in $3.9B deal
Harrisburg, Pa.-based Select Medical in March signed an agreement to be acquired in a $3.9 billion transaction led by co-founder and Executive Chairman Robert Ortenzio, Senior Executive Vice President Martin Jackson and private equity firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe.
The company, which operates 104 critical illness recovery hospitals, 38 rehabilitation hospitals and nearly 2,000 outpatient rehab clinics across 39 states and Washington, D.C., will become privately held upon the deal’s expected close in mid-2026.
2. Walgreens goes private with $10B deal
In August, Walgreens Boots Alliance went private following its acquisition by New York City-based Sycamore Partners in a deal valued at about $10 billion.
Under private ownership, Walgreens now operates as five standalone companies: Walgreens, The Boots Group, Shields Health Solutions, CareCentrix and VillageMD. The restructuring reflects a private equity playbook centered on separating assets, streamlining operations and repositioning core businesses outside the pressure of quarterly earnings cycles.
3. NeueHealth exits public markets in $1.5B deal
NeueHealth, formerly Bright Health, went private in a $1.5 billion acquisition by an affiliate of New Enterprise Associates.
After exiting the insurance market and rebranding around its health services platform, leadership said private ownership provides greater flexibility to advance its value-driven, consumer-centric care model.
4. Enhabit to be acquired in $1.1B transaction
Home health and hospice provider Enhabit agreed to be acquired by Kinderhook Industries in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $1.1 billion.
Enhabit operates 249 home health and 117 hospice locations across 34 states. Upon closing, the company will delist from the New York Stock Exchange and continue operating under its existing name.
5. Premier taken private in $2.6B deal
Premier, a tech-driven healthcare performance improvement company, finalized its $2.6 billion acquisition by Patient Square Capital, becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of the firm.
The transaction takes a major supply chain, data analytics and group purchasing organization off public markets, signaling private equity’s interest in healthcare infrastructure assets that serve large provider networks.
6. Three RCM firms combine under private equity
Private equity firm New Mountain Capital combined Access Healthcare, SmarterDx and Thoughtful.ai to create Smarter Technologies, an AI-powered revenue cycle management platform.
The company, created in May 2025, serves more than 200 clients, including 60 hospitals and health systems, processes more than 400 million transactions and manages more than $200 billion in combined revenue annually.
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