Private Equity in Healthcare – PESP’s October 2025 Roundup

Each month, PESP’s Healthcare Team will be putting together a roundup that shares the latest news stories related to private equity in healthcare and highlights the work that our team has published in the last month.

In the news

Private Equity in Ambulatory Surgical Centers – Private Equity Stakeholder Project

• PESP released a report on how private equity firms have become dominant players in the $30 billion outpatient surgery market. Authored by PESP researcher Michael Fenne, the report traces how leveraged buyouts, joint ventures, and stealth roll-ups are transforming care delivery—and raising red flags for patients, providers, and regulators.
• The report calls for stronger disclosure rules and antitrust oversight to monitor private equity’s expanding footprint in outpatient care. Without reform, ASCs risk becoming yet another venue where Wall Street dictates the terms of healthcare delivery—driving up costs while leaving communities with fewer choices.
• The report was covered in Becker’s ASC and MedPage Today.

California passes two bills increasing oversight of private equity in healthcare

• In October, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed two bills, SB 351 and AB into law. Both bill address private equity in healthcare.
• Senior Policy Coordinator, Michael Fenne, said in a statement about the passage of SB 351,
  • “SB 351 takes an important step toward strengthening California’s protections against corporate control of medical and dental practices. Private equity and other corporate investors have been allowed to use loopholes in state law to influence care delivery through management service organizations and dental service organizations. Greater oversight of these arrangements is important for protecting clinical standards, preserving provider autonomy, and ensuring accountability. By reinvigorating California’s commitment to prohibiting corporate medicine, SB 351 prioritizes the health of patients and communities over short-term investor returns, and reflects a growing trend among states working to curb the risks of private equity.”
• Assembly Bill 1415 will require private equity firms to notify the state Office of Health Care Affordability before major transactions in health care. Those firms also may have to provide more details around ownership and profit cash flows before they may continue acquisitions.

Markey, Sanders, Blumenthal Introduce the Stop Medical Profiteering and Theft Act to Protect Health Systems from Predatory Real Estate Investment Trust Deals

• The Stop MPT Actwould address predatory REIT investments in hospitals and health care systems. Specifically, the bill would:

1. 1. 1. Prohibit the entry of a health system into a lease or sale agreement with a REIT that could weaken the financial status of the health system or place public health at risk;
      2. Allow HHS to review all lease agreements to determine whether the agreements would lead to a long term weakened financial status of health system; and
      3. Close tax loopholes for REITs for rental income from health care properties.

• PESP’s Healthcare Director, Mary Bugbee, was quoted in the press release announcing the legislation:
  • “The Stop Medical Profiteering and Theft Actis an important step toward addressing the extractive sale-leaseback practices that have contributed to major recent healthcare bankruptcies and hospital closures. Extractive real estate practices that contribute to harmful impacts on patients and reduced access to care for entire communities should have no place in healthcare.”

Blackstone, TPG to Buy Hologic for Up to $18.3 Billion – WSJ Pro

• WSJ Pro reported on October 21 that private equity firms TPG and Blackstone had announced a deal to acquire women’s health company, Hologic, for $76 a share. The deal is valued up to $18.3 million, including debt.
• According to Reuters, “The buyout shows how the split in market valuations in the United States – companies in AI are highly valued, while sectors like healthcare, industrials and consumer products are undervalued.”
• Hologic operates in 36 countries and has over 7000 employees, according to its website.

Healthcare team’s latest blogs, reports, and media mentions

Reports:

• Private equity in ambulatory surgical centers

Blog Posts:

• Private Equity Health Care Acquisitions – August 2025
• Three directors resign from private equity-owned Sevita Health in response to FTC enforcement efforts
• PESP Statement on Governor Newsom Signing SB 351 into Law
• PESP contributes expertise to Congressional roundtable on PE impacts on veteran healthcare
• New California laws regulate private equity in healthcare

Other PESP healthcare news and mentions in October:

• A Newsweek article titled, “Private equity regulation in health care sweeps the nation,” cites PESP’s hospital tracker.
• PESP’s healthcare research was cited in both Health Affairs and The Lancet.
• PESP’s research on healthcare bankruptcies, was quoted in Healthcare Dive’scoverage of SB 351’s passage into law.
• PESP’s Executive Director, Jim Baker, was quoted in Supermarket News’ coverage of corporate layoffs at Walgreens.
• PESP’s PE Risk Index was cited in New Mexico Political Report.