Healthcare M&A continues to rise with no signs of slowing down, as deal values in the first quarter of 2019 increased above last year’s numbers, according to PwC.

The firm also predicts that the healthcare and private equity partnership will continue throughout the year. PwC attributes private equity’s continued enthusiasm in healthcare deals to the sector’s available capital and desire to balance its riskier investments in other industries with more-stable investments in healthcare companies.

Private equity could serve as a “healthcare’s new growth accelerator,” and quickly bring consolidation to the fragmented industry, according to PwC. The company said private equity firms completed 672 healthcare deals in 2017.