Well Health Technologies is building scale
The health-care sector is a government-backed, recession-resilient industry, and this firm is shaping up to be a major player. By this point, the company is the largest private-sector operator of outpatient medical clinics in Canada.
Its aggressive acquisition strategy is targeted at telehealth and other services across Canada and New Zealand.
WELL HEALTH TECHNOLOGIES CORP. (Symbol WELL on Toronto; www.well.company) provides Electronic Medical Records software and services to a network of 2,200 medical clinics. (It owns 27 of them.) WELL also operates a national telehealth service and is a provider of digital health technology software.
The company is now buying Toronto-based MyHealth Partners Inc. for up to $266.3 million. This will be the company’s 10th acquisition this year.
MyHealth, founded in 2013, has 760 healthcare professionals, including doctors, who provide primary care, specialty care, telehealth services and diagnostic services under Ontario’s provincial health insurance program. MyHealth chief executive Suresh Madan will continue to head the business.
About 75% of MyHealth’s medical consultations are done through telehealth technology, some of it provided by Well Health’s group of companies.
The acquisition will make WELL Health the largest private-sector operator of outpatient medical clinics in Canada.
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The company is also buying Intrahealth Systems Ltd. of New Zealand for $19.25 million.
Intrahealth is an Electronic Medical Records provider with a highly customizable platform that supports a wide range of healthcare settings. They include health authorities, hospitals, public health outpatient centres, community health, home care, ambulatory care and diverse health care professionals.
For example, Intrahealth’s solutions for hospitals include patient administration system, bed management, waiting list management, enterprise-wide scheduling, case management, medication management, emergency room operations and ward management, among many other features.
Intrahealth currently supports approximately 15,000 clinicians providing care for millions of patients in Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Over the past 12 months, the company generated approximately $9 million in revenue.
The acquisition looks like a good fit for WELL and will let it launch its international expansion outside of North America.
Moreover; the company previously bought CRH Medical Corporation (symbol CRH on Toronto) for $369.2 million U.S. This Canadian-based firm provides gastroenterologists throughout the U.S. with services and products for the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases. In 2014, CRH also became a full-service gastroenterology anesthesia company. It provides anesthesia services for patients undergoing endoscopic procedures in ambulatory surgical centres. It now serves 72 ambulatory surgical centers in 15 states.
Growth by acquisition adds risk—but WELL Health aims to cut that risk by buying complementary businesses, like MyHealth and CRH, that can be easily integrated with its current operations.
However, the Canadian health-care sector is a government-backed, recession-resilient industry. What’s more, the rapid expansion of telehealth services spurred by COVID-19 is likely to continue beyond the pandemic’s eventual end.
In the quarter ended December 31, 2020, revenue jumped 74.9%, to $17.2 million from $9.8 million a year earlier. WELL made $5.8 million, or $0.04 a share, compared to a loss of $3.2 million, or $0.03 a share. However, without one-time gains, the company lost money in the quarter. The losses were due to costs to expand operations and integrate acquisitions.
Recommendation in Power Growth Investor: WELL Health Technologies is a buy.