- WELL completed seven acquisitions since December 2024 across its Canadian Clinics,
WELLSTAR and WELL USA business
units, collectively representing total annualized revenue run-rate
of approximately $100 million at
EBITDA1 margins in line with the Company's 2024 EBITDA
margin guidance.
- All acquisitions were paid for by cash with no shares being
issued as part of any of these transactions. It is estimated that
WELL's leverage ratio post all deals is less than the leverage
ratio announced at its last earnings event for fiscal Q3 2024.
- The seven acquisitions included one of the largest physician
recruitment firms in Canada, two
Canadian Primary Care Canadian Clinics, one Provider Staffing
acquisition in the United States
under the CRH banner, two previously announced acquisitions under
the WELLSTAR banner and the previously announced acquisition of
Jack Nathan Health. Altogether, 75 new clinical assets were added
to WELL's Canadian business.
- WELL's current M&A pipeline includes twelve LOIs reflecting
approximately $65M in revenues. All
but two of the current LOIs are based on targets in Canada.
VANCOUVER, BC, Jan. 14,
2025 /PRNewswire/ - WELL Health Technologies Corp.
(TSX: WELL) (OTCQX: WHTCF) ("WELL" or the "Company"),
— a practitioner focused digital health company that is positively
impacting health outcomes by tech-enabling healthcare providers and
their patients globally, is pleased to provide a corporate update
on its capital allocation activity reflecting the addition of
$100M in annualized revenue from
acquisitions completed since December
2024 as well as an outlook on its continued M&A pipeline
and momentum. These transactions are expected to strengthen WELL's
operational platform for long-term growth:
Description of
Acquisition
|
WELL Business
Unit
|
Ownership
|
Provider Staffing
company
|
WELL USA
|
Majority
|
Physician Recruitment
company
|
Canadian
Clinics
|
Majority
|
Two Primary Care
Clinics in North Vancouver, BC
|
Canadian
Clinics
|
100 %
|
Primary Care Clinic in
London, ON (Absorption)
|
Canadian
Clinics
|
100 %
|
Regional EMR
(Electronic Medical Record)
|
WELLSTAR
|
100 %
|
Healthcare technology
services
|
WELLSTAR
|
Majority
|
Primary Care Clinic
Network (Jack Nathan Health)
|
Canadian
Clinics
|
100 %
|
Hamed Shahbazi, Founder and CEO
of WELL, commented, "WELL ended 2024 and the beginning of 2025 with
a flurry of capital allocation activity. Between Dec 1, 2024, and Jan 2,
2025, we added approximately $100M in revenues at EBITDA1 margins
in line with our 2024 EBITDA margin guidance without issuing a
single share of WELL stock. These transactions demonstrate the
powerful compounding capabilities of our company's M&A program
and the free cashflow that underpins its momentum. Our track record
shows that we consistently identify and integrate valuable assets
that enhance our operational capabilities and deliver meaningful
returns. As we look ahead to 2025, we are committed to continuing
an active yet disciplined M&A program, capitalizing on a robust
pipeline, and delivering continued compounding momentum to our
shareholders for years to come."
Q4 2024 Acquisitions: Expanding WELL's Canadian
Footprint
WELL has significantly expanded its clinic network through key
acquisitions in December 2024,
solidifying its position as a leading healthcare provider in
Canada. These acquisitions have
allowed WELL to capture a meaningful share of the fragmented
Canadian healthcare market while greatly expanding its geographic
footprint and deepening its range of healthcare services across the
country.
On December 1, 2024, WELL
completed the previously announced acquisition of Jack Nathan
Health, which operates 72 clinics2 across Canada, and represents one of WELL's largest
expansions to date, significantly increasing its reach and patient
care capabilities. In addition, WELL acquired three new
clinics—Lonsdale Clinic in North
Vancouver, BC and HealthPark in London, ON —which combined, add 35 physicians
into the WELL network and expand WELL's presence in British Columbia and Ontario.
The newly acquired clinics represent a material step forward in
WELL's mission to provide comprehensive, accessible healthcare to
communities nationwide. In addition to increasing its physical
presence, WELL plans to implement its suite of digital patient
engagement tools and other advanced technologies across these
locations. These enhancements are designed to improve the overall
experience for both providers and patients, streamlining operations
and ensuring more seamless access to care.
All newly acquired clinics3 are actively undergoing
WELL's clinic transformation program, a proven initiative designed
to optimize operations, integrate digital workflows as well as back
office shared services and enhance EBITDA1 margins.
The Company further strengthened its support for healthcare
providers by acquiring Physicians For You, one of the largest
physician recruitment platforms in Canada that addresses one of nations most
pressing healthcare challenges: the shortage of physicians. The
recruitment and retention of doctors remain critical issues in
Canada's healthcare system, with
demand significantly outstripping supply. Physicians For You
specializes in recruiting internationally trained doctors who meet
the qualifications to practice medicine in Canada, providing an essential solution to
this growing problem.
This acquisition represents a major enhancement to WELL's
recruitment capabilities, ensuring its clinics remain fully staffed
and able to meet patient demand. Physicians For You is expected to
play a key role in supporting WELL's growth, and the Company plans
to scale its recruitment efforts significantly to surpass current
levels. By incorporating this platform into its ecosystem, WELL is
better positioned to address staffing shortages while enabling
primary care clinics to operate more efficiently. This scale
ensures clinics remain sustainable and focused on delivering
exceptional care to their communities.
Additionally, as previously announced on December 12, 2024, WELL made two new acquisitions
under its newly branded WELLSTAR division, which will bolster the
Company's ability to provide advanced digital solutions to
healthcare providers. These additions will complement WELL's
existing suite of tools, enabling clinics to streamline operations
and improve patient engagement, further reinforcing WELL's
leadership in healthcare innovation.
Harmony: Strengthening U.S. Anesthesia Staffing
Leadership
On Jan 2, 2025, WELL's subsidiary,
CRH, acquired a 65% interest in Harmony Anesthesia Staffing
("Harmony"), a full-service anesthesia staffing company
based in Atlanta, Georgia. Harmony
provides locum tenens and permanent placement anesthesia staffing
solutions, specializing in Certified Anesthesiologist Assistants
("CAAs") and other anesthesia professionals for its network
of customers, which includes anesthesia groups, hospitals, and
ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs) across eight U.S. states. The
placement of CAAs is a rapidly growing trend in addressing
industry-wide staffing challenges, and Harmony has quickly
established itself as a leader in this space. As one of the
pioneers in CAA placements, Harmony has played a crucial role in
meeting the anesthesia staffing challenges experienced throughout
the industry.
Jay Kreger, CEO of CRH Medical
commented, "We are very pleased to welcome the Harmony team to the
CRH family. This acquisition is a synergistic and complimentary
addition to our current platform Radar which will immediately
enhance our staffing offering to our network of customers. The
Harmony platform provides us further diversification beyond
clinical anesthesia services and brings us significant growth
potential and upside as it pertains to anesthesia staffing. We are
looking forward to partnering with the Harmony leadership team and
helping them accelerate their growth potential and expand into new
states."
Rad Zamani, Founder of Harmony commented, "We are thrilled to
partner with the WELL Health USA
and CRH family. We believe this partnership will enable us to
capitalize on our full growth potential and ensure that healthcare
facilities are able to have access to quality anesthesia providers.
We are excited about the prospect of newfound opportunities and
resources that this partnership can bring to Harmony."
Harmony currently serves over 20 customers and is
well-positioned to further increase its footprint of providers and
clients as CAA placements gain broader acceptance across the
healthcare industry. The two co-founders of Harmony, who retain a
35% interest in the business, will continue to play a key role in
its growth, leveraging CRH and WELL's operational support. The
acquisition reinforces WELL's strategy of diversifying its business
lines while maintaining a focus on high-margin, capital-efficient
growth opportunities.
WELL's M&A Outlook: Building on Strong Momentum
Looking ahead, WELL's current M&A pipeline includes 12 LOIs
reflecting approximately $65M in
total revenues with EBITDA1 margins in line with the
Company's 2024 EBITDA margin guidance. All but two of the current
LOIs are based on targets in Canada. WELL continues to see a robust
pipeline of opportunities in the highly fragmented Canadian
healthcare market. As the largest owner-operator of clinics in
Canada—significantly outpacing the scale of any other operators
—WELL is uniquely positioned to support physicians that no longer
want the responsibility to operate clinics and capitalize on the
long runway for growth this fragmented industry presents. The
Company's proven ability to efficiently operate clinics while
delivering meaningful benefits to providers, patients, and public
health systems has solidified its reputation as a leader in
Canadian healthcare.
WELL's clinic absorption program has been instrumental in
driving organic growth while maintaining capital efficiency. This
program allows clinics to join WELL's network with minimal upfront
costs, benefiting from WELL's operational expertise and technology
platform. Additionally, the recently introduced WELL Affiliate
Clinic model provides an innovative approach to growth. These
clinics, while not owned and operated by WELL, will increasingly
leverage WELL's technology and infrastructure, generating
high-margin income for the Company and extending its reach and
influence across the industry.
WELL's three-pronged approach to growth in the Canadian clinics
market—through acquisitions, clinic absorptions, and the affiliate
model—combined with its track record of being an excellent
operator, underscores the immense opportunity ahead. With over 200
clinics now owned and operated across Canada and a growing presence in the U.S.,
WELL has established a strong foundation for its vision of creating
a nationwide, integrated healthcare network.
Footnotes:
- Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization
("EBITDA") and EBITDA Margin are each non-GAAP measures. EBITDA
should not be construed as alternatives to net income/loss
determined in accordance with International Financial Reporting
Standards ("IFRS"). EBITDA does not have any standardized meaning
under IFRS and therefore may not be comparable to similar measures
presented by other issuers. The Company believes that EBITDA is a
meaningful financial metric as it measures cash generated from
operations which the Company can use to fund working capital
requirements, service future interest and principal debt repayments
and fund future growth initiatives. For a reconciliation of EBITDA
to Net income, please refer to the Company's most recent Management
Discussion and Analysis on Sedar.com. EBITDA Margin is EBITDA as a
percentage of total revenue.
- 13 clinics are owned and operated by WELL. The remaining 59
clinics are licensee clinics operating under WELL's new 'Affiliate
Clinic' business model. For more information on this please see
WELL's press release dated December 2,
2024.
- At this time only WELL's owned and operated clinics will
undergo the full clinic transformation process. The clinics under
WELL's Affiliate Clinic business model will be supported by
technology solutions from WELLSTAR, WELL's SaaS &
Services. Please see WELL's press release dated December 12, 2024.
WELL HEALTH TECHNOLOGIES CORP.
Per: "Hamed Shahbazi"
Hamed Shahbazi
Chief Executive Officer, Chairman and Director
About WELL Health Technologies Corp.
WELL's mission is to tech-enable healthcare providers. We do
this by developing the best technologies, services, and support
available, which ensures healthcare providers are empowered to
positively impact patient outcomes. WELL's comprehensive healthcare
and digital platform includes extensive front and back-office
management software applications that help physicians run and
secure their practices. WELL's solutions enable more than 28,000
healthcare providers between the US and Canada and power the largest owned and
operated healthcare ecosystem in Canada with more than 200 clinics supporting
primary care, specialized care, and diagnostic services. In
the United States WELL's solutions
are focused on specialized markets such as the gastrointestinal
market, women's health, primary care, and mental health. WELL is
publicly traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol
"WELL" and on the OTC Exchange under the symbol "WHTCF". To learn
more about the Company, please visit: www.well.company
About CRH Medical Corporation
CRH is a North American company focused on providing
gastroenterologists throughout the United
States with innovative services and products for the
treatment of gastrointestinal diseases. CRH also provides locum
tenens and permanent placement anesthesia staffing solutions
through its wholly owned subsidiary Radar Healthcare ("Radar") to a
network of customers which include provider groups, hospitals, and
ASCs. In 2014, CRH became a full-service gastroenterology
anesthesia company that provides anesthesia services for patients
undergoing endoscopic procedures in ambulatory surgical centers. To
date, CRH has completed 49 anesthesia acquisitions, and now serves
over 140 ambulatory surgery centers in 20 states. In addition, CRH
owns the "CRH O'Regan System," a single-use, disposable, hemorrhoid
banding technology that is safe and highly effective in treating
all grades of hemorrhoids. CRH distributes the O'Regan System,
treatment protocols, operational and marketing expertise as a
complete, turnkey package directly to gastroenterology practices,
creating meaningful relationships with the gastroenterologists it
serves. CRH's O'Regan System is currently used in all 50 US states
Puerto Rico, USVI and Canada.
Notice Regarding Forward Looking Statements
Certain statements in this news release are forward-looking
statements and are prospective in nature including the statements
regarding: the anticipated benefits of the acquisitions and the
future strategy of WELL and CRH. Forward-looking statements are not
based on historical facts, but rather on current expectations and
projections about future events and are therefore subject to risks
and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ
materially from the future results expressed or implied by the
forward-looking statements. These statements generally can be
identified by the use of forward-looking words such as "may",
"should", "could", "would", "intend", "estimate", "plan",
"anticipate", "expect", "believe", "working on" or "continue", or
the negative thereof or similar variations. There are numerous
risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and WELL's
plans and objectives to differ materially from those expressed in
the forward-looking information, including: business disruption
risks relating to COVID-19; regulatory risks, including those
related to healthcare, privacy and data security; integration risks
relating to the acquired business on a post-closing basis,
including any failure to realize expected benefits of the
acquisitions; and the other risks described in WELL's publicly
filed documents available on SEDAR. Actual results and future
events could differ materially from those anticipated in such
information. These and all subsequent written and oral
forward-looking information are based on estimates and opinions of
management on the dates they are made and are expressly qualified
in their entirety by this notice. Except as required by law, WELL
does not intend to update these forward-looking statements.
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