Healthia expands services with footwear retailer and eCommerce acquisition

As the largest podiatry clinic operator in Australia, allied healthcare company Healthia (ASX: HLA) is set to increase its range of products and services offered to patients and new customers with the acquisition of retailer Natural Fit Footwear and its online store. 

Key to the acquisition is Healthia’s network of 94 podiatry clinics across Australia where podiatrists will be able to recommend specific footwear products that offer the best patient outcomes.  Popular brands distributed by Natural Fit Footwear include Birkenstock, Ecco, Klouds, Frankie4, Revere, Vionic, Skechers and Saucony. 

Acquired for $2.02m upfront and a further $1.35m if earnings targets are met, Natural Fit Footwear’s 6 retail locations and online store are expected to contribute annual revenues of $6.1m and $0.85m EBITDA to Healthia. 

The acquisition follows a similar strategic rationale behind the consolidation of businesses when Healthia listed publicly in 2018, bringing iOrthotics under the Healthia banner. Since then, iOrthotics has emerged as the largest manufacturer of 3D-printed orthotics in Australia while servicing Healthia’s podiatry network and external customers. 

Earlier in the year, Healthia expanded iOrthotics to the United States with the opening of a manufacturing facility in New York which now serves customers across North America with 3D-printed orthotics. 

Since listing publicly, Healthia has continued making a steady stream of clinic and business acquisitions which have continued to deliver strong earnings growth, optimised by support services, marketing and supply chain optimisation from the Healthia network. 

Upon completion of the acquisition, Founder of Natural Fit Footwear Daniel Simone will join Healthia as General Manager of Retail Footwear. 

For FY20, Healthia reported a 40.2% increase in revenue to $92.4m and a 46.7% increase in underlying EBITDA to $13.2m. Alongside the bumper result, Healthia declared a fully franked dividend of 2 cents per share with the Company enduring minimal disruption through COVID-19 with their services deemed as ‘essential community services, alleviating pressure from the public health system. 

Alongside the Natural Fit Footwear acquisition, Healthia also announced the addition of three  physiotherapy clinics in Queensland, bringing their total network of allied health services to 94 podiatry clinics, 56 physiotherapy clinics and 2 orthotics manufacturing facilities. 

*Owners of this website are shareholders in a company mentioned in this article and have been engaged by them to assist in investor communications