Medica buys Irish teleradiology business

The UK teleradiology company is buying the business from Centric Health, a private Irish healthcare group, on a cash-free debt-free basis. Medica will pay Centric up to €4m extra based on milestones over the next few years.

Medica also said it was trading in line with expectations and that it expected less impact from Covid-19 restrictions in England than from the first lockdown.

The company's shares rose 9% to 107p at 09:10 GMT.

Medica said it had been looking at the Irish market for the past year and that GDI was the country's leading operator. Irish radiology services are worth more than €500m a year and demand is rising by about 8% a year, it said.

Like the UK, Ireland has too few radiologists and teleradiology - sending scans electronically for review - is increasingly being used to fill the gap, Medica said. As well as adding a leading Irish teleradiology business the purchase of GDI will allow Medica to expand into opthalmology, the company added.

Medica said the deal would strongly add to earnings and that it expected a return on investment of twice the cost of capital. Carolyn Byrne, GDI's managing director, will join Medica's executive team as managing director for Ireland.

Stuart Quin, Medica's chief executive, said: "This highly complementary acquisition of Global Diagnostics Ireland aligns with, and significantly accelerates, our strategy to diversify Medica's geographic reach. GDI has built a strong reputation amongst radiologists, as well as hospital and primary care clients across Ireland."

Medica said Covid-19 restrictions taking effect in England on Thursday would not be as severe as the first lockdown and that the NHS was better prepared this time.

"Discussions with our clients indicate that radiology departments are planning to adhere as closely as possible to business as usual through this second lockdown period and beyond," Medica said. "This is in stark contrast to earlier in the year which saw the vast majority of non-acute imaging halted."