Teladoc Goes Global with Massive Advance Medical Purchase

Nearly 1 year after its largest ever acquisition, telehealth company Teladoc has made another 9-figure move. The company announced this week that it has acquired another telehealth company, Advance Medical, for more than $350 million. The combined company will now offer services in more than 20 languages, with the ability to reach patients in well over half of the countries around the world (there’s 195 of them).

Teladoc raced to the top of the telehealth heap after its founding in 2002. It reaches well over 20 million patients in the United States, giving them the opportunity to connect with one of thousands of US-licensed doctors remotely.

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Advance Medical is actually 3 years older than Teladoc. While it does not have nearly the same domestic footprint, the Spain-based company works internationally. Teladoc highlighted the new purchase’s expertise in Latin American and Asian markets in particular, “where private health insurance growth rates are more than double that of the US.”

“Today we bring together two companies who, by consistently putting the consumer first, have proven the transformative power of offering full-spectrum virtual care solutions,” Teladoc CEO Jason Gorevic said in a statement. “This acquisition advances our strategy to continually expand our product portfolio, as well as our operational footprint in attractive global markets.”

Marc Subirats and Carlos Nueno, co-founders of Advance Medical, will join Teladoc’s executive team while continuing to run Advance Medical’s international business. The acquisition was completed on the last day of May, and came in the form of $292 million cash and $60 million worth of Teladoc common stock.

Nueno said that his company, “shares Teladoc’s belief that a virtual care solution should be comprehensive in nature, and provide answers and outcomes for people regardless of their location or medical condition.” Subirats added that there is “no doubt” that the new pairing will “have a profound consumer impact.”

Teladoc’s last big purchase came in June of 2017, when it gobbled up medical analytics and consultation giant Best Doctors for more than $440 million. At the time, Gorevic was also thinking internationally.

“Our vision has always been to provide the central, trusted source for consumers to find resolution to the broadest array of healthcare needs, on their terms,” he said of that purchase, continuing that the addition of Best Doctors’ analytics expertise, global footprint, and access to experts in over 450 specialties was “a monumental step towards making that vision a reality.”

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