The impact of covid-19 on valuation differences in public and private healthcare companies

Abstract

Valuation discounts of privately-owned companies compared to publicly-listed ones are prevalent in many industries and are a commonly accepted concept. This paper studies valuation differences between public and private companies in the healthcare sector. Further, it examines whether such differences were impacted by the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. In the sample studied herein, private companies are valued at a premium, but that difference is not statistically significant. In addition, the impact Covid-19 had on the valuation differences between public and private companies in the healthcare sector so far cannot be generalized according to the traits studied herein.