Behavioral health deals have seen a sharp decline in Q2, which is in line with nearly every other sector of the market.
That’s according to data from Fort Myers, Florida-based M&A consulting firm Mertz Taggart. After a record breaking 2021(158 deals), and then an active first quarter (40 deals), behavioral health deals have finally slowed to 30.
“Even though transaction volume is down, Mertz Taggart is still very bullish on behavioral health and expects multiples and demand for quality companies to remain strong through the remainder of 2022,” Mertz Taggart Managing Partner Kevin Taggart, said in the report.
Eighty percent of the deals in Q2 were private equity or venture capital transactions, according to the report. All of the venture capital deals included an element of technology “that provided scalable accessibility to patients.”
Deals in the substance use disorder space (SUD) decreased by nearly half from Q1 (15 deals) to Q2 (8 deals). Last year there were a total of 76 deals in the SUD space. Some of the notable deals in the SUD space this quarter include Bicycle Health’s $50 million Series B funding round and Boulder Care’s $33.73 million raise.
While mental health deals have dipped from Q1 to Q2, the deal flow remains healthy in this subsector, according to the report. There were a total of 17 mental health deals in Q2, down from 27 deals in Q1. In 2021 there were 56 deals in this subsector, which comes out to an average of 14 deals per quarter.
The autism and IDD industry was the only subsector to see and uptick in deals quarter-over-quarter. In Q2 there were 7 deals in the space, up by one from last quarter. The first two quarters are still lagging behind 2021, which saw 21 autism/IDD deals in the first half of the year, and 43 deals total for the year.
Some notable autism/IDD deals in Q1 were Stepping Stones Group’s acquisition of behavioral health company HM therapy, and Pathways Health and Community Support’s acquisition of the Psychological Assessment & Intervention Services.
Deals across the behavioral health sector have cooled this quarter. Rock Health reported that digital mental health companies raised $1.3 billion in the first half of 2022. Yet, the majority ($1 billion) was raised in Q1.
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