Babylon Health, once one of the darlings of the UK tech sector, is to be taken private following a spectacular fall from grace since listing in New York in 2021.
The digital healthcare company spurned London with a $4.2 billion SPAC merger Stateside as its popularity soared during COVID.
However its share price has fallen more than 99% since listing. Last year Babylon scaled back its NHS partnerships, championed by former Health Secretary Matt Hancock, while net losses more than doubled to $63.2 million in the three months to the end of March.
The company’s main lender, London-based credit fund AlbaCore Capital, is taking control with the intention of carrying out a restructuring and recapitalisation. Reports suggest AlbaCore will amend terms of a $300m loan it provided to Babylon and provide $34.5m of fresh funding.
It will be merged with MindMaze, behind technology and digital neurotherapeutic solutions for brain health and recovery.
“Collectively, the new organisation is positioned to become a leading value-based care platform with cutting edge technological, clinical and operational ability to both provide holistic primary care and effectively diagnose, manage and treat major episodic and chronic diseases,” said Babylon.
The companies added that the combined entity “will form a powerful digital-first global AI-driven healthcare business that will help transform the industry from sick care to predictive and preventative healthcare”.
The transaction is expected to close next month.
Babylon was founded in 2013 by British-Iranian entrepreneur Ali Parsa (pictured). Its GP at Hand app continues to be used by around 100,000 NHS patients to virtually access GPs.