Healthia successfully acquires 12 clinics for $5 million

Allied health company Healthia (ASX: HLA) is continuing on the acquisitions path despite economic uncertainty surrounding COVID-19, with the announcement today it purchased The Foot and Ankle Clinic for $5 million on Friday.

Comprising 12 podiatry clinics in Melbourne and regional Victoria, the new acquisition is expected to generate $4.425 million in annual revenue and an EBITDA of $1.124 million.

Shares are up 9.4 per cent so far this morning at $0.85, following an upward trend that has been underway as a rebound since 25 March when Healthia announced its clinics - also including physiotherapy - would remain open.

The company has been monitoring the overall performance of The Foot and Ankle Clinic over the last two months and notes the effects of COVID-19 have been immaterial.

"The completion of this acquisition strengthens the company's position as the largest podiatry clinic operator in Australia," says CEO and managing director Wes Coote.

"We are very excited to be attracting clinics of this scale and stature to the network and we look forward to continuing our acquisitive growth trajectory into the future."

The completion of the acquisition means Healthia has achieved its stated target of deploying more than $15 million of capital for new acquisitions during FY20, although it plans to continue to progress its pipeline of physiotherapy and podiatry acquisition opportunities, along with other aligned allied health industries.

The group had planned to open up a multi-disciplinary allied health clinic in Bundaberg in April along with another in the Gold Coast suburb of Pimpama in October, however the completion of these greenfield sites has been delayed due to the developing impacts of COVID-19.

Now the openings are due to take place in October for the Bundaberg clinic, and in May next year for the Pimpama site.

Business News Australia