TELUS to acquire LifeWorks for $2.3 billion

VANCOUVER – TELUS Corp. announced an agreement to acquire LifeWorks, Inc. for approximately $2.3 billion. LifeWorks is a world leader in providing digital and in-person solutions that support the total wellbeing of individuals – mental, physical, financial and social.

“We look forward to welcoming LifeWorks employees and customers into our TELUS Health family,” said Darren Entwistle (pictured), president and CEO of TELUS. “Today’s announcement will enable us to combine the respective skills and capabilities of LifeWorks and TELUS Health, creating a globally leading, end-to-end, digital-first employee preventative and mental health and wellness platform covering more than 50 million lives.”

Under the arrangement, the companies will work together not only in Canada but around the world. “This includes complementing LifeWorks’ international relationships with TELUS International’s proven expertise in digital transformation and client service excellence, as well as their expansive client base and delivery teams spanning 28 countries, to extend our offerings to customers well beyond Canada,” said Entwistle.

“Indeed, at TELUS Health, our mission is predicated on the belief that we can build a healthier future for people around the world by leveraging the power of technology, in combination with our caring culture, to promote collaboration and efficiency, and create better health experiences across the entire health ecosystem.”

Stephen Liptrap, president and CEO of LifeWorks, said, “The Transaction represents an exciting new chapter for LifeWorks. The combination of TELUS Health and LifeWorks represents an unmatched opportunity to create a leader in employer-focused primary and preventative digital healthcare and mental wellness solutions on a global basis.

Together, we will accelerate our shared vision of empowering individuals to live their healthiest lives by unifying the continuum of care through digital-first innovations, as well as our unmatched in-person care. Our two organizations also have shared values and are leading, purpose-driven organizations committed to improving the lives of people around the world. The fit for the LifeWorks team couldn’t be better.”

There has been an unprecedented shift in what is needed to support employers in addressing the evolving health and wellness needs of employees and their families, including a greater focus on supporting mental health. The traditional EFAP industry faces increasing pressure to keep up with the rapid pace of change, while seeing increased competition from upstarts that offer scalable, digital-first solutions available wherever an employee may be working, that are able to address the realities facing the modern workforce.

LifeWorks has long-standing EFAP market expertise, which includes its unmatched high-touch and in-person solution, as well as its 15-year investment in and focus on its leading digital capabilities and platform, and extensive administrative, retirement and financial solutions.

Our strong belief is that these capabilities, in combination with TELUS Health’s track record of developing rich, digitally-native primary, preventative mental health solutions for individuals, patients and practitioners, as well as our exciting IoT capabilities that we are developing for the health vertical, represent an unparalleled go-to-market comprehensive health and mental wellness offering that is well positioned to realize this long-term upside opportunity and take share against legacy and upstart competitors alike. Together, we will advance healthcare delivery models to address both the physical and mental health and wellness challenges impacting our communities, including mental health, aging, and access to care and resources.

Within TELUS Health, we are leveraging the power of our globally leading technology and our caring culture, to build a healthier future. Through collaboration and efficiency, we are creating better health experiences, and cultivating the seamless flow of healthcare data to yield improved outcomes across the entire health and wellness ecosystem.

TELUS Health and Lifeworks have a shared vision of making it simple and effective for our customers to successfully access and proactively manage their own health and wellness by creating a world-class provider of the most comprehensive suite of employee and family primary and preventative digital healthcare solutions, delivered with an unmatched level of clinical and customer service excellence, and underpinned by our globally recognized corporate culture of care and brand.

About TELUS Health
TELUS Health is a Canadian leader in digital health technology, providing virtual care, virtual pharmacy, home health monitoring, electronic medical and health records, benefits and pharmacy management, and personal emergency response services. By leveraging the power of technology to deliver connected solutions and services, TELUS Health is improving access to care and revolutionizing the flow of information while facilitating collaboration, efficiency, and productivity for physicians, pharmacists, health authorities, allied healthcare professionals, insurers, employers, and all Canadians, to progress its vision of transforming healthcare and empowering people to live healthier lives. Through the TELUS Health Care Centres, teams of renowned and passionate healthcare professionals deliver best-in-class patient-centric preventative care to thousands of Canadian employers, professionals, and families in more than 15 medical clinics located across the country. For more information please visit www.telushealth.com.

About LifeWorks
LifeWorks is a world leader in providing digital and in-person solutions that support the total wellbeing of individuals – mental, physical, financial and social. As the trusted leader in mental health and wellbeing, LifeWorks delivers a personalized continuum of care that helps our clients improve the lives of their people and by doing so, improve their business. Guided by our purpose to improve lives and improve business, we help our clients improve the wellbeing of their people, we help them improve workforce engagement and productivity, thereby improving the performance of our clients’ organizations. LifeWorks is a publicly traded company on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: LWRK). The Company has approximately 7,000 employees, 25,000 clients, and serves 36 million individuals and their families in more than 160 countries.