WeDoctor Closes USD500 Million Financing to Accelerate Expansion

May 09, 2018 12:00 JST

Source: WeDoctor

AIA and NWS Holdings to be Lead Strategic Investors

HONG KONG, May 09, 2018 - (Media OutReach) - We Doctor Holdings Limited ("WeDoctor"), China's leading technology-enabled medical and healthcare solutions platform, announced today the closing of a USD500 million financing. Led by AIA Company Limited, a member of the AIA Group Limited ("AIA", Hong Kong stock code: 1299) and NWS Holdings Limited ("NWS Holdings", Hong Kong stock code: 659) as lead strategic investors, and with the participation of existing shareholders and new investors including CICFH. This round of financing marks the largest pre-IPO financing ever in China's technology-based medical and healthcare sector, bringing WeDoctor's valuation to USD5.5 billion upon completion.

This round of investment brings together a number of renowned market leaders across sectors with complementary strengths and exceptional capabilities to further enhance WeDoctor's platform and long-term growth. WeDoctor plans to collaborate with its strategic investors to reinforce its position as the leading industry player. It is committed to promoting the synergies in the open ecosystem of WeDoctor Healthcare, WeDoctor Insurance, and WeDoctor Pharma, and the robust and rapid growth of WeDoctor Cloud in the realm of smart healthcare.

Following the investment and the agreement of a Strategic Partnership, AIA will become WeDoctor's preferred provider of life and health insurance solutions. Both parties are aligned in their intent to provide innovative and high quality offerings that improve the health and wellbeing of people in China and around the Asia-Pacific region.

"We are thankful for the trust our existing and new investors have put in us. Their investments reflect a shared mission of offering premium healthcare services via innovative technology," said Jerry Liao, Chairman and CEO of WeDoctor. "As China's unprecedented healthcare industry reform continues, WeDoctor will continue to tap into opportunities in this flourishing and enormous market. We have jointly established with our business partners a unique business model that encompasses the integration of 'online + offline' and 'GP + specialist' operations. As our business grows, we are also making notable progress in applying cloud-based technology and artificial intelligence in the provision of healthcare services. The addition of AIA and NWS Holdings as our new strategic investors will empower us to accelerate expansion and generate synergistic win-win benefits.

John Cai, Regional Chief Executive, AIA Group, said, "We see this partnership as part of our ongoing ambition to interact with our customers at every important stage of their lives. The strength of AIA's market position in life and health insurance together with WeDoctor's leading technology platform and quality healthcare provider network, support AIA's commitment to play an active and valued role in our customers' health and wellness journeys. We look forward to working together with WeDoctor to improve the provision of quality and affordable healthcare for millions of people across China."

Brian Cheng, Executive Director of NWS Holdings, said, "NWS Holdings has been making substantial investments in the clinical and healthcare management sector. The investment in WeDoctor confirms our confidence in the prospect of this market. We will continue to build our expertise and invest in various healthcare platforms to improve the well-being of human lives especially in China."

After eight years of development, the WeDoctor platform connects more than 2,700 hospitals, 220,000 general practitioners and specialists in 30 provinces across China. As an industry pioneer, it founded the Wuzhen Internet Hospital, achieving rapid development in the research and development and application of smart healthcare and smart health terminals.

About WeDoctor

We Doctor Holdings Limited ("WeDoctor") is China's leading technology-enabled healthcare solutions platform, providing seamless online and offline healthcare services as well as integration of general practitioner and specialist doctors. Founded by Jerry Liao and his team in 2010, WeDoctor operates four main business segments, namely, WeDoctor Healthcare, WeDoctor Cloud, WeDoctor Insurance, and WeDoctor Pharma.

WeDoctor brings together government, hospitals, doctors, pharmaceutical companies and financial institutions to create an innovative and holistic healthcare provision and funding ecosystem.

On the WeDoctor platform, there are over 2,700 hospitals, 220,000 leading doctors, 15,000 pharmacies and 27 million monthly active users.

Since the establishment of China's largest appointment registration platform - Guahao.com, WeDoctor has continued to transform the healthcare system through technology with the creation of the nation's first Internet hospital - Wuzhen Internet Hospital. It also launched the industry's first domestic smart health terminal, and has made significant progress in the field of smart healthcare with the creation of AI-enabled diagnosis systems for both Western and Chinese medicine.

About AIA Group

AIA Group Limited and its subsidiaries (collectively "AIA" or the "Group") comprise the largest independent publicly listed pan-Asian life insurance group. It has a presence in 18 markets in Asia-Pacific - wholly-owned branches and subsidiaries in Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, China, Korea, the Philippines, Australia, Indonesia, Taiwan, Vietnam, New Zealand, Macau, Brunei, Cambodia, a 97 per cent subsidiary in Sri Lanka, a 49 per cent joint venture in India and a representative office in Myanmar.

The business that is now AIA was first established in Shanghai almost a century ago in 1919. It is a market leader in the Asia-Pacific region (ex-Japan) based on life insurance premiums and holds leading positions across the majority of its markets. It had total assets of US$216 billion as of 30 November 2017.

AIA meets the long-term savings and protection needs of individuals by offering a range of products and services including life insurance, accident and health insurance and savings plans. The Group also provides employee benefits, credit life and pension services to corporate clients. Through an extensive network of agents, partners and employees across Asia-Pacific, AIA serves the holders of more than 30 million individual policies and over 16 million participating members of group insurance schemes.

AIA Group Limited is listed on the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited under the stock code "1299" with American Depositary Receipts (Level 1) traded on the over-the-counter market (ticker symbol: "AAGIY").

About NWS Holdings Limited

NWS Holdings Limited ("NWS Holdings", Hong Kong stock code: 659) is the infrastructure and service flagship of New World Development Company Limited (Hong Kong stock code: 17). It has diverse businesses and investments predominantly in Hong Kong and Mainland China, comprising toll roads, environmental management, port and logistics facilities, rail container terminals, commercial aircraft leasing, facilities management, healthcare services, construction and public transport. Please visit www.nws.com.hk for details.

Media enquiries
Hong Kong: Harriet Lau / Kylie Yeung / Ivan Kau
Cornerstones Communications Limited
T: +852 2903 9290 / 2903 9293 / 2903 9285
E: wedoctor@cornerstonescom.com

Mainland China: Zhang Songqi / Hou Dan / Ye Qiujie
We Doctor Holdings Limited
T: +86 131-2182-2818 / 138-3907-8991 / 150-6872-0757
E: zhangsq@guahao.com, houdan@guahao.com, yeqj@guahao.com

Source: WeDoctor