Healthcare: Two Deals Worth $7.5 Billion
Private equity and pharma were both active in healthcare this week. Clayton, Dubilier & Rice — alongside McKesson — agreed to acquire Option Care Health, the home and alternate-site infusion therapy company, for approximately $5.8 billion in enterprise value. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2027 and will take Option Care private. Separately, Viatris agreed to acquire Pacira BioSciences for $1.65 billion ($36.50 per share in cash) — adding Pacira's non-opioid pain management portfolio, including its flagship non-opioid surgical analgesic, to Viatris's generics and specialty franchise.
Energy: Energy Transfer Adds Vaquero Midstream
In the energy sector, Energy Transfer announced the acquisition of Vaquero Midstream for $2.625 billion, expected to close in Q4 2026. The deal adds Permian Basin midstream gathering and processing assets to Energy Transfer's existing infrastructure network.
The Broader Healthcare Wave
The Pacira and Option Care deals come against a backdrop of sustained healthcare M&A in 2026. Year-to-date, the sector has logged deals including Boston Scientific's $14.5 billion acquisition of Penumbra, AbbVie's $10.9 billion purchase of Apogee Therapeutics, and GSK's $10.6 billion deal for Nuvalent — a combined wave of pharma and medtech consolidation exceeding $75 billion in the first half alone.
What this means for investors: The Skydance-WBD close resolves the longest-pending media megadeal and sets a floor on content consolidation valuations. The healthcare activity pattern — large pharma acquiring clinical-stage biotechs at premiums, and PE taking infusion and specialty care private — reflects ongoing margin pressure on payers and hospitals and a continued bet on outpatient delivery models. Energy Transfer's Permian acquisition signals that midstream infrastructure M&A remains active even as E&P capital discipline holds.
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