Telus Health completes early takeover of LifeWorks in $2.3 billion deal

Telus Health, a division of Telus Corp., finalized its takeover of LifeWorks Inc. on Thursday. The deal, which was originally announced in June, will see the western telecom spend $2.3 billion to buy the Toronto-based firm. “Today Telus Health is a global health care company,” Michael Dingle, COO of Telus Health told the Wire Report in a telephone interview. “We’ve acquired LifeWorks and LifeWorks on its own was a leading provider of total well being solutions for employees. It accelerates our vision of people living their healthiest lives.” LiveWorks offers companies comprehensive digital and in-person health coverage, covering mental, physical, financial and social well being of their employees. The move will see a massive increase in workers for the health division. Before the takeover, Telus Health had 3,000 employees; with the addition of the LifeWorks staff, that will balloon to 10,000. Dingle suggested that this is just the beginning of the expansion of the work of Telus Health. This makes Telus a global player in the marketplace. LifeWorks covers 50 million people in 160 countries, with major market share in Canada, the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom. That brings out the nationalist pride in the COO. “I wouldn’t want to miss a chance, as a Canadian, to celebrate two great Canadian innovators coming together in Telus and LifeWorks. We come together to advance health care globally and to export Canadian innovation,” Dingle said. The executive emphasized the role LifeWorks plays in delivering digital-first health care to its clients. “On the heels of a pandemic the importance of employee total health cannot be overstated.” When first announced, it was expected the deal would close in the fourth quarter of 2022. Telus was able to accelerate that schedule. “This was making assumptions on the rate our regulatory approvals would be received,” Dingle said, “We’re pleased to report the regulatory approvals were received quickly.” Stockholders holding a total of 33.7 million shares opted for a cash consideration of $33 per share for the LifeWorks stock. Shareholders representing 5.4 million shares opted for 1.06 common shares of Telus for each share of LifeWorks. A final group, holding 23.5 million shares, went with a combined offer of $16.50 in cash and 0.532 common shares of Telus. The special shareholder meeting was held in August. Telus already held just under 10 per cent of the stock in LifeWorks when the takeover was announced in June. Adam Shine of the National Bank of Canada was bullish on the deal. “Besides core strength across enterprises, will look to better penetrate mid-market and small businesses,” he wrote in a research note. “ will update its 2022 guidance for the purchase with 3Q reporting in November,” Shine stated. –Reporting by Paul Park at ppark@thewirereport.ca and editing by Jenna Cocullo at jcocullo@thewirereport.ca.

Telus Health completes early takeover of LifeWorks in $2.3 billion deal

News | September 1, 2022

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Telus Health completes early takeover of LifeWorks in $2.3 billion deal

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