Marshall Jackson discusses M&A trends in digital health on the Health Care Network

In a recent episode of the Health Care Network, Marshall Jackson breaks down what’s really driving the current wave of dealmaking in health tech and digital health, and where the market is headed next.

Marshall explained that much of today’s activity isn’t classic strategic M&A. He’s seeing lots of companies with strong technology and talent getting acquired for parts, often by buyers pursuing a hybrid “build and buy” strategy. He also pointed out that investors have sharply increased their diligence even on early-stage rounds, rewarding companies that have moved past pilot-stage AI and technology toward real operational stickiness with customers.

On the current regulatory environment, Marshall noted that federal antitrust scrutiny of healthcare deals has eased somewhat, but that the gap is being filled by a growing number of states — including, e.g., California, New York and Maine — introducing their own transaction notification and consent requirements, adding a new layer of complexity for investors investing in multi-state healthcare companies.

Asked what’s flying under the radar in this market, Marshall pointed not to the headline-grabbing deals but to the wave of smaller roll-ups and add-on acquisitions happening beneath them — the third, fourth, or fifth deal in a consolidation strategy rather than the first — predicting that some of today’s quiet, smaller transactions will, in the aggregate, be viewed as the real headline deals several years from now.