(See our Occupational Medicine Valuation Multiples and M&A Trends 2025 report here)
Concentra, the occupational health giant recently spun off from Select Medical, announced the acquisition of Nova Medical Centers, a prominent operator of occupational medicine clinics with 67 locations in Texas, Georgia, Tennessee, Indiana, and Wisconsin. The transaction values Nova at $265 million and is expected to be financed using a combination of cash on hand, available borrowing capacity under an existing revolving credit facility, and new debt financing. Nova Medical Centers has been operating for over 30 years and provides workers’ compensation injury care services, physical therapy, drug and alcohol screening, and pre-employment physicals as part of their full suite of occupational health services.
Occupational Medicine M&A Trends
Occupational medicine announced M&A deal volume declined in 2024, but this appears to more blip than trend. Deal announcements are dominated by private equity firms and platform companies as smaller owner / operator buyer acquisitions typically do not get announced publicly. Several PE-backed acquirers like Akeso and Agile slowed their activity to a halt in 2024, while Concentra, the major acquirer in the industry, paused M&A activity entirely, likely in preparation for its spinoff from Select Medical. Concentra's acquisition of Nova may be an early indicator of a rebound in 2025, as the $265 million investment comes after spending a total of $35.8 million on 12 acquisitions over the past four years.
While private equity involvement in occupational health remains limited, there have been a handful of platforms acquired or formed over the past few years.
Occupational Medicine EBITDA Multiples
According to Concentra's FY 2024 earnings presentation, Nova Medical Centers has last twelve month revenue of $130.3 million implying a multiple of 2.0x revenue, while EBITDA was $28.3 million implying a multiple of 9.4x EBITDA. This is slightly below the multiple Select Medical originally paid for Concentra back in 2015 (10.2x) and well-below Concentra's current multiple as a public company, which is in the 12 to 13x range. Concentra also expects Nova's EBITDA to increase under its ownership through both cost synergies and revenue growth, leading to purchase multiple of <7.5x year three projections.
About Scope Research
Scope Research compiles a suite of healthcare M&A databases and provides valuation services. The Scope Research Healthcare M&A Valuation Database currently has financial details for 144 primary care, urgent care, and occupational medicine deals going back to 2010, 86 of which include reported EBITDA multiples. The data can be purchased individually, while our affordable annual subscriptions provide access to all of our healthcare M&A databases and segments, updated continuously.
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