Tonic Health Media has acquired TorchMedia’s digital pharmacy network.
The acquisition follows a $7-million-plus capital raising late last year, which was well supported by its shareholders. The adjacency in pharmacy complements Tonic’s existing multichannel network in GP waiting rooms across the country.
Tonic managing director Dr Matthew Cullen says: “We know that most visits to the doctor take about an hour, from arriving in the doctor’s waiting room to visiting a nearby pharmacy to fill a prescription. This acquisition helps close the loop on the patient’s journey from point-of-care at the GP to point-of-dispensing at the pharmacy. From a commercial perspective, we’re thrilled at the sophistication this brings to our offering, and we’re excited to expand our quality health-educational content into new environments.”
The acquisition consists of over 250 high definition digital screens across Australia, with the majority in New South Wales (36%), Victoria (23%) and Queensland (21%), helping Tonic to reach over 14 million Australians per month.
In addition, Tonic has an exclusive arrangement with Gold Cross, which is the commercial arm of the Pharmacy Guild of Australia. The Guild has over 4,000 community pharmacy members across the country.
TorchMedia CEO Andrew Gibson commented: “It has been a pleasure to partner with Gold Cross in delivering pharmacy digital out-of-home media for the past decade. It was our considered view that the pharmacy business would achieve better outcomes for consumers, advertisers and pharmacy being in the hands of a specialty health media company such as Tonic.”
The acquisition of TorchMedia’s digital pharmacy network follows Tonic Health Media’s rebrand and upgrade of its television screens, channel content and brochure board assets spanning 4,500+ doctors’ and hospital waiting areas across the country earlier this year.
Tonic Health Media is an unlisted public company (tonichealthmedia.com.au).