In an effort to expand its virtual care reach, Purchase, New York-based Teladoc Health has acquired a French telemedicine company called MédecinDirect.
Financial terms of the deal, which is expected to close in the first half of this year, were not disclosed.
MédecinDirect will become the French country unit of Teladoc, which already has operations in other countries outside the U.S., including Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Hungary, Portugal, Spain and the U.K.
“With a continued focus on our global expansion, we will now become the market leader in France with the ability to have an immediate impact on healthcare delivery in the country,” Carlos Nueno, president of Teladoc Health International, said in a statement. “On the successful foundation built by MédecinDirect, we will bring our full suite of virtual care services to multinational clients who have been eager to expand.”
Through the deal, Teladoc hopes to make telemedicine available to more people across France.
Based in Paris, MédecinDirect was co-founded in 2008 by François Lescure and Marc Guillemot. The company offers remote medical consultations and its services are available online or through a mobile app. Users can ask a medical question 24/7 and decide how they want to talk to a doctor (via writing, phone or video). The doctor will then get back to them. Patients can receive consultations on various conditions, such as a fever, cough, cold, flu, acne and constipation.
This isn’t the first organization Teladoc has scooped up.
Last year, it bought virtual care provider Advance Medical in a $352 million deal aimed at expanding its global footprint and increasing its service offerings. Advance Medical is based out of Westwood, Massachusetts, but has offices around the globe, including locations like London, England; Shanghai, China; Sao Paulo, Brazil and Barcelona, Spain.
Teladoc also acquired second opinion service Best Doctors for $440 million in 2017. The goal there was to boost Teladoc’s international reach and provide telemedicine cross-selling opportunities for both entities.
In 2016, it signed an agreement to buy HealthiestYou, a Scottsdale, Arizona-based company that specializes in mobile patient engagement.
Picture: Andrey Suslov, Getty Images
