Capitalising on favourable economic conditions, allied healthcare company Healthia (ASX: HLA) has partnered with National Australia Bank (ASX: NAB) to increase their finance facility by $20 million which will be deployed towards allied health acquisitions for the rapidly growing service provider. 

The partnership increases Healthia’s existing finance facility from $50m to $70m and will see NAB join existing lenders as financiers behind Healthia’s emergence that has resulted in the Company forecasting an 86% increase in underlying EBITDA. 

“We are pleased to announce NAB as a new finance partner and NAB is a logical addition having provided transactional facilities to Healthia for a number of years,” said Healthia CEO, Wesley Coote. 

“We are also grateful for the ongoing support of ANZ and BOQ who have been with Healthia since our Initial Public Offering in September 2018.” 

The increase in their finance facility comes following Healthia’s $43m acquisition of The Optical Company in November 2020 which expanded Healthia into optometry services, joining podiatry and physiotherapy. With that acquisition, Healthia increased its total network of allied health business to 194 which has since become 200 including their recently-opened superclinic in Queensland. 

As part of Healthia’s long-term vision for growth, the Company intends to deploy at least $20m annually towards acquisitions that they can improve through vertical integration of support services, marketing and supply chain management. 

This has been key to Healthia’s 14% organic growth where acquired clinics have seen significant improvements to their operating margins while Healthia have recently also announced their highest ever graduate intake with 60 joining the Company this month. 

While the $20m increase will contribute towards planned capital deployment, the facility is expected to be drawn out over the next three years with acquisitions funded through a combination of operating cash flow, clinic class shares, deferred consideration and the facility. 

Earlier in the month, Healthia reported strong H1 earnings where they are expected to report an 86% increase in underlying EBITDA. 

Healthia will be hosting an online investor briefing on Friday, 26 February at 11.00am AEDT where CEO Wesley Coote will present results, provide an update on their optometry businesses, and field questions from investors and analysts who can register here to attend. 

 

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