For any healthcare private equity fund looking for the next durable platform opportunity, provider IT and services deserve serious attention. Private equity has moved into a more demanding era. The old tailwinds of cheap leverage, broad multiple expansion, and easy exits are no longer enough on their own. McKinsey’s 2026 private markets report makes that point clearly, arguing that future outcomes will be shaped more by disciplined asset selection, early operational value creation, AI adoption, leadership, and liquidity management than by market momentum alone.
That shift matters because it changes what a healthcare private equity fund should value most. Instead of chasing broad exposure to healthcare, sponsors increasingly need assets with recurring demand, sticky customer relationships, and room for operational improvement after close. Bain reported that provider and related services deal value jumped 57 percent in 2025 to an estimated $62 billion, with provider IT and services driving that growth. Bain also said healthcare IT deal value within the provider segment doubled to about $32 billion, showing how capital is concentrating around technology enabled service layers rather than traditional pure provider exposure alone.
One number: Provider and related services deal value rose 57 percent in 2025 to about $62 billion, according to Bain.
One structural driver: Investors are focusing more heavily on technology enabled assets such as analytics, workforce optimization, and platform solutions.
One Legacy Capital implication: For a healthcare private equity fund, provider IT and services may offer one of the clearest current roll up opportunities because the segment combines fragmentation, workflow relevance, recurring customer need, and multiple levers for post close value creation. This conclusion is an inference based on the Bain and McKinsey data.
This Is Not Just a Healthcare Theme
From a Legacy Capital perspective, this is not simply a healthcare trend. It is a systems of record and workflow control thesis. The most attractive assets in fragmented markets are often the ones customers cannot easily replace because disruption is too costly. In healthcare, that switching friction can come from implementation burden, staff training, compliance complexity, payer coordination, and the daily reality that operators cannot afford added friction in already stressed workflows. When a business is tied to scheduling, revenue cycle, workforce visibility, compliance management, patient access, analytics, or documentation support, it often becomes more than a vendor. It becomes part of the operating infrastructure.
That is what makes provider IT and services attractive to a healthcare private equity fund. These businesses frequently sit close to mission critical activities, yet many remain founder led, regional, or subscale. They solve narrow but important problems. They often have loyal customers. What they lack is the capital base, management depth, sales infrastructure, and integration playbook needed to scale into broader platforms. That is exactly where private equity can create value.
Why the Roll Up Logic Works
A true roll up works best when the acquired businesses are not random. They need to share a customer base, reinforce the same workflow, and create stronger economics when combined. Provider IT and services fit that pattern well. A sponsor can acquire a core platform, then add adjacent capabilities such as analytics, labor optimization, compliance support, patient access tools, or revenue cycle enhancement. The value creation case is not just about size. It is about building a broader solution set around the customer’s existing workflow. That approach lines up with Bain’s observation that investors in 2025 sharpened their focus on
technology enabled provider assets, especially analytics, workforce optimization, and platform solutions. In practical terms, that means capital is already moving toward categories where a healthcare private equity fund can build scale through integration rather than relying only on top line optimism.
Operational Alpha Matters More Now
McKinsey’s broader private equity view is especially important here. The firm argues that alpha is less likely to come from market conditions alone and more likely to come from deliberate execution. That is a strong match for provider IT and services. A good sponsor can standardize implementation, centralize back office functions, improve customer success, tighten pricing discipline, reduce churn, and introduce a more institutional operating cadence across acquired businesses.
This is where the segment becomes more interesting than a generic healthcare services thesis. A healthcare private equity fund does not need every portfolio company to be flashy. It needs assets that can become more valuable through discipline. Provider IT and services can offer multiple paths to that outcome. Cross selling can improve account economics. Better reporting can sharpen decision making. Stronger onboarding can lift retention. Adjacent service expansion can
deepen customer reliance. Those are the kinds of operational levers that matter when multiple expansion is no longer the main story.
What to Look for in a Target
Not every company in this segment deserves a premium valuation. The best targets are likely to share a few important characteristics. First, they should have recurring or highly repeatable revenue. Second, they should be embedded in an important workflow rather than sitting on the edge of the organization. Third, they should show clear evidence of retention strength, customer reliance, or measurable ROI. Fourth, they should have room for add on acquisitions that expand
product depth or strengthen the customer relationship.
In other words, the best platform for a healthcare private equity fund is not just selling software or outsourced labor. It is helping run part of the customer’s operating system. That is where switching costs rise, pricing power improves, and exit quality becomes more compelling.
Why This Theme Can Travel to Exit
Exit logic matters from day one. A fragmented services platform with weak integration rarely earns a premium outcome. But a scaled provider IT and services business with durable retention, deeper product breadth, and proven post acquisition integration can appeal to multiple buyer groups. Strategic buyers often pay for workflow relevance and customer embedment. Larger sponsors pay for platform maturity, add on history, and evidence that the next stage of growth is
already visible.
That is why this theme stands out. Bain’s provider data show that deal value growth in 2025 was being driven by IT and services, not just traditional provider assets. McKinsey’s broader work suggests that the next era of private equity will reward firms that create value through execution, not just timing. Taken together, that points toward a simple conclusion. Provider IT and services sit in a lane where operational relevance and platform strategy can meet.
Final Takeaway
A healthcare private equity fund should not think about this segment as a niche side bet. It may be one of the clearest current examples of what modern private equity should look for: fragmented supply, repeatable customer need, workflow stickiness, and multiple levers for post close improvement. The opportunity is not based on hype. It is based on building a stronger operating platform around real healthcare infrastructure.
That is the core Legacy Capital view. The next meaningful roll up opportunity may not come from chasing the loudest category. It may come from quietly consolidating the software and service infrastructure that healthcare providers rely on every day.
Sources for validation:
Bain & Company, Healthcare Private Equity Market 2025: Resurgence and Renewed Optimism
and related 2026 press release.
https://www.bain.com/insights/healthcare-private-equity-market-2025-global-healthcare-private-
equity-report-2026/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
McKinsey & Company, Global Private Markets Report 2026.
https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/private-capital/our-insights/global-private-markets-report?
utm_source=chatgpt.com