Vancouver-based WELL Health Technologies announced this week that it is acquiring a sizeable stake in Toronto’s HEALWELL AI, a healthcare technology platform powered by a suite of artificially intelligent tools.
The transaction will see WELL acquire roughly one-third of HEALWELL’s market capitalization and a majority of the company’s voting shares, rendering a controlling interest in the firm, according to a statement from the companies.
WELL, which has long partnered with HEALWELL, suggested that the transaction could add more than $150 million to the company’s annual revenue.
The strategic manoeuvre comes at a time when WELL’s stock price is trading at around $4, down markedly from an all-time high last year of over $7, even as patient visits rise to all-time highs in Canada.
The B.C. digital healthcare firm handled nearly six million patient visits during the year—including over three million in Canada—representing annual growth of more than 30%, according to chief executive officer Hamed Shahbazi.
“Our Canadian Clinics underpinned by our technology enabled care model continues to lead the way in driving strong organic growth for the Company enterprise wide,” he stated recently.
“We are very proud of and grateful to the healthcare providers and technologists working together to drive the best patient outcomes possible,” Shahbazi said.
Last year WELL Health acquired the Canadian clinical assets of Jack Nathan Medical and now operates its “Affiliate Clinic” business stream out of Walmart’s network of over 400 locations in Canada.
As Walmart seeks to “be the health and wellness destination for the communities we serve,” according to Alex Hurd, who serves Walmart Canada as Vice President of Health Services, WELL’s “Affiliate Clinic” business model allows the company to generate high-margin rental income from clinics without directly managing their day-to-day operations.
More recently, WELL Health Technologies rebranded WELL Provider Solutions Group to WELLSTAR Technologies, a pure-play software-as-a-service healthcare firm. WELLSTAR offers a suite of solutions tailored to meet the needs of healthcare providers, including Electronic Medical Records software, Digital Health Apps, and a suite of AI automation solutions.
WELL’s solutions currently support 41,000 healthcare providers in North America.
Leave a Reply