Cencora’s acquisition of EyeSouth Partners’ retina business for $1.1 billion on March 23 was the largest healthcare services transaction of the first quarter, according to data from LevinPro HC, and it foreshadowed where physician group dealmaking was headed as 2026 progressed.
Atlanta-based EyeSouth is one of the largest comprehensive ophthalmology platforms in North America. Founded in 2017, growing out of an initial affiliate practice, Georgia Eye Partners, the company built out its footprint under private equity backing from Shore Capital Partners before Olympus Partners took a majority stake in 2022, when EyeSouth counted more than 270 physicians across 155-plus locations in 11 states. By March 2026, that footprint had grown to more than 400 physicians across nearly 300 locations in 14 states.
Under the Cencora agreement, EyeSouth’s retina physicians will join Retina Consultants of America, the medical services organization of Cencora, a Conshohocken, Pa.-based pharmaceutical services company.
The EyeSouth transaction wasn’t an isolated bet on physician-led care. In December 2025, Cencora agreed to acquire majority ownership of OneOncology, an independent oncology physician platform, for about $3.6 billion. As Cencora’s second physician-platform acquisition within a few months, this was a sign that strategic buyers, not just private equity firms, are racing to build out physician-facing infrastructure.
Physician medical groups led all healthcare mergers and acquisitions activity in the first quarter, and the trend didn’t reverse in the second, even as the broader M&A market cooled.
According to the report from LevinPro HC, healthcare M&A activity slowed in the second quarter, with 459 publicly announced transactions, down from 553 deals in the first quarter and roughly 23% below the 503 deals announced in the second quarter of 2025.
Physician medical groups still topped every other sector with 106 deals, or 23% of all activity, even though that was down from 124 physician group deals in the first quarter. Dental was the most active specialty among investors targeting physician groups, with 54 deals, followed by internal medicine (seven) and pediatrics (six). Medical outpatient buildings (51 deals), home health and hospice (20) and behavioral health care (18) also drove healthcare services deal volume.
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