Wesfarmers snaps up e-health start-up InstantScripts in $135m deal

A group of investors will pocket a cash windfall after selling their five-year-old Melbourne-based e-health start-up for $135m to Wesfarmers.

Wesfarmers subsidiary Australian Pharmaceutical Industries has ramped its presence with the $135m takeover of Australia’s largest online healthcare provider InstantScripts.

Wesfarmers bought API in 2022 and the purchase of the Melbourne-based start-up will increase its firepower in the retail health and beauty industry.

InstantScripts was founded in 2018 by former merchant banker turned medical doctor Asher Freilich and Maxim Shklyar who remain major shareholders after capital raisings brought in investors such as Perennial Private Investments, Microequities Asset Management and Bailador Technology Investments.

Dr Freilich said it was a strong endorsement for the future of the digital healthcare sector.

“InstantScripts has grown rapidly from a start-up operation focused on making quality health care services more accessible and affordable for Australian patients, to a highly-valued clinical business providing over a million health services each year,” he said.

“We are proud of the work our people do, particularly for vulnerable patients in rural and regional communities with poor access to face-to-face primary care, and for those suffering from conditions that make visiting a GP clinic challenging.”

Digital healthcare provider InstantScripts co-founder Asher Freilich.

Bailador announced on Tuesday it had agreed to sell all of its shares in the company to API for $52m cash.

InstantScripts lets patients obtain express medical scripts in minutes online. It can do scripts for more than 300 medicines, all of which are low-dosage and low clinical risk for ailments including thyroid, urinary tract infections or melatonin for sleep.

In October last year InstantScripts drafted in Lazard Australia to hunt for a new owner and

potential investors were told the company was making about $50m a year and had 600,000 users in its database, of which about 250,000 had used the system in the past 12 months.

The telehealth company will become part of the Wesfarmers Health division and the acquisition – which is anticipated to complete in July, would provide opportunities to leverage its existing pharmacy and Clear Skincare networks.

Wesfarmers Health managing director Emily Amos.

Wesfarmers Health managing director Emily Amos said the proposed acquisition would add a substantial presence in the growing telehealth sector to the division, aligning with its broader focus on digital health.

“Over recent years telehealth has emerged as an important service, complementing the care delivered through GP practices, pharmacies and other allied health providers,” she said.

“Our goal is to make Australians’ health, beauty and wellness experiences simpler, more affordable and easier to access. InstantScripts provides flexible services that are available at short notice and outside of normal consultation hours, and is accessible to patients in remote areas and those who have difficulty visiting a GP.”