I-MED, Australia’s largest private equity-backed imaging provider, enters US with teleradiology acquisition

I-MED, a private equity-backed company and Australia’s largest provider of diagnostic imaging services, is entering the U.S. market with the acquisition of San Diego-based teleradiology group StatRad.

I-MED Radiology Network was looking to expand into North America, seeing similarities to its domestic market, CEO Shrey Viranna told the Australian Financial Review. Teleradiology currently accounts for about 10% of I-MED’s revenue, and its physicians handle more than 1 million reports a year at 170 hospitals in Australia and New Zealand.

The terms of the deal, which closed July 1, were not disclosed. I-MED said it expects to add about $90 million in annual revenue and $20 million in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization through the acquisition. Founded in 1995, StatRad bills itself as the second-largest telerad provider in the United States.

“While the actual U.S. healthcare market and the radiology market have some fundamentals that are very different (from Australia), teleradiology in the U.S. … has been very close to home for us,” Viranna, a South African physician and former McKinsey consultant, told the publication. “Historically, as an Australian-based company, we are aware that this is our first venture into the U.S. … we were cautious and cautious,” he later added.

I-MED management has been pursuing StatRad for the past two years, learning about its technology and the market. Similar to the US, Australia has seen growing interest in teleradiology amid an ongoing shortage of specialists.

London-based investment firm Permira previously acquired I-MED from Swedish private equity firm EQT in 2018. The PE firm is also reportedly considering selling I-MED, which employs 450 doctors and runs 250 clinics. Viranna declined to discuss details of a potential change in ownership, the Review reported.

Radiologist-owned StatRad employs more than 90 physicians in the United States who perform exams for “hundreds of clients and thousands of patients every day,” according to its website.

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