Healthy outlook for healtchare ASC acquisitions

The ambulatory surgery center (ASC) field will be very active this year with new transactions and partnerships, according to the “2016 ASC Valuation Survey” from HealthCare Appraisers Inc. Almost 90% of survey respondents say they plan to purchase an ASC this year, and 22% of those say they’ll acquire between six and 10 ASCs.

In the pink: For multispecialty ASCs, 78% of the respondents reported multiples of 7.0 to 8.0 times EBITDA when purchasing a controlling interest. When purchasing a controlling interest in single-specialty ASCs, 73% said the prevailing valuation multiples were 6.0 to 7.9 times EBITDA. Most respondents are willing to pay a premium for ASCs with a certificate of need (CON), with 56% reporting they would add a premium of 0.51 to 1.0 to the typical multiple.

The survey includes responses that represent more than 700 ASCs throughout the country.