Key Takeaways
- • Bon Secours Mercy Health is in late-stage talks to buy a majority stake in Bain Capital-backed Surgery Partners in a take-private valuing the company at roughly $6 billion including debt, according to the Financial Times, citing people familiar with the matter.
- • The proposed terms price Surgery Partners at about $20 per share, a premium of roughly 26% to its last close, per Reuters' calculation using LSEG data; the enterprise value includes about $3.5 billion of debt.
- • Bain Capital, the company's largest investor with a stake of almost 40%, would retain its position, making the arrangement a partial exit for the sponsor.
- • The reported price sits below Bain's earlier non-binding proposal of about $6.7 billion enterprise value, which the special committee rejected in June 2025.
- • Surgery Partners would give Bon Secours 176 surgery centers and hospitals across 30 states, and the deal could be announced as early as Monday.
Summary
Bon Secours Mercy Health, one of the largest not-for-profit health systems in the United States, is in late-stage talks to acquire a majority stake in Surgery Partners, the outpatient surgery operator backed by Bain Capital. The Financial Times reported on Sunday, citing people familiar with the matter, that the take-private would value the company at roughly $6 billion including debt, and Reuters also carried the report. The deal could be announced as early as Monday, according to the reports.
The proposed terms value Surgery Partners at about $20 per share, a premium of roughly 26% to its last close, according to Reuters' calculation using LSEG data. The enterprise value includes about $3.5 billion of debt. Bain Capital, a shareholder since 2017 and the company's largest investor, would keep its stake of almost 40% as part of the transaction. Surgery Partners shares rose about 20% in overnight trading after the report, according to RTTNews. Bon Secours, Surgery Partners and Bain did not comment on the report or did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The talks would conclude a process of more than a year of stop-start sale efforts. In June 2025, a special committee of Surgery Partners' independent directors ended discussions over Bain's non-binding proposal to acquire the shares it did not already own, concluding in a regulatory filing that the company's prospects as an independent public company exceeded the value of the offer. According to the FT, Bain's earlier proposal for the whole company was pitched at about $6.7 billion of enterprise value. The shares have fallen about 31% over the past year.
Bon Secours runs 47 hospitals across the United States and Ireland and generated about $14 billion of revenue last year, according to the report. The transaction would add 176 surgery centers and hospitals across 30 states to its portfolio. The approach follows Ascension's roughly $3.9 billion agreement earlier this year to buy surgery-center operator Amsurg, indicating that large not-for-profit systems are increasingly competing with financial sponsors for outpatient assets.
For private equity, the reported arrangement is a partial exit. Bain would retain a large minority position alongside a strategic majority owner, maintaining exposure to the outpatient growth story while the public float disappears. Allocators will watch how the reported price compares with Bain's earlier proposal and whether more sponsor-held healthcare services businesses attract non-profit health system buyers.
The proposed terms value Surgery Partners at about $20 per share, a premium of roughly 26% to its last close, according to Reuters' calculation using LSEG data. The enterprise value includes about $3.5 billion of debt. Bain Capital, a shareholder since 2017 and the company's largest investor, would keep its stake of almost 40% as part of the transaction. Surgery Partners shares rose about 20% in overnight trading after the report, according to RTTNews. Bon Secours, Surgery Partners and Bain did not comment on the report or did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The talks would conclude a process of more than a year of stop-start sale efforts. In June 2025, a special committee of Surgery Partners' independent directors ended discussions over Bain's non-binding proposal to acquire the shares it did not already own, concluding in a regulatory filing that the company's prospects as an independent public company exceeded the value of the offer. According to the FT, Bain's earlier proposal for the whole company was pitched at about $6.7 billion of enterprise value. The shares have fallen about 31% over the past year.
Bon Secours runs 47 hospitals across the United States and Ireland and generated about $14 billion of revenue last year, according to the report. The transaction would add 176 surgery centers and hospitals across 30 states to its portfolio. The approach follows Ascension's roughly $3.9 billion agreement earlier this year to buy surgery-center operator Amsurg, indicating that large not-for-profit systems are increasingly competing with financial sponsors for outpatient assets.
For private equity, the reported arrangement is a partial exit. Bain would retain a large minority position alongside a strategic majority owner, maintaining exposure to the outpatient growth story while the public float disappears. Allocators will watch how the reported price compares with Bain's earlier proposal and whether more sponsor-held healthcare services businesses attract non-profit health system buyers.
Go deeper than the headline
Research every firm in this story, track the ones that matter and get the daily briefing — free for 7 days.