Medicinal cannabis and telehealth group Vitura Health (ASX: VIT) is adding another key industry name to its long list of portfolio brands and subsidiaries, striking a deal to acquire founder-led online consultation service Candor Medical for $5.9 million.

The upfront cash component of the deal is covered by Peregrine Corporation managing director Charlie Shahin AO, a leading business figure in South Australia who is investing $5.1 million to secure an 11.4 per cent stake in the group.

Co-founded by Dr Lisa Beckett and Joel Beckett in 2022, Queensland-based Candor Medical provides consultation services to around 15,000 patients, resulting in almost $30 million in annual medication purchases via pharmacies.

The acquisition will make Vitura - formerly known as Cronos - one of Australia's largest medicinal cannabis clinic providers with more than 100,000 consultations annually across its subsidiaries, and is expected to deliver a "material increase" in revenue and earnings in FY25 and beyond.

In FY24 Candor reported a consolidated unaudited EBITDA of more than $1 million, but as a sign of growth this same result was achieved in just six months in the December half of FY25.

This compares to EBITDA of $6.2 million in FY24 for Vitura, with $123.9 million in revenue across the group which owns Canview, Burleigh Heads Cannabis, CDA Clinics, and Doctors on Demand (DoD).

DoD was acquired for $24.5 million in 2023 and its general clinic business conducts more than 300,000 consultations a year, with more than 220 doctors connected to the platform.

Vitura Group also owns 75.5 per cent of Cannadoc Health, 50 per cent of psychadelics treatment company Cortexa, and late last year via a joint venture picked up the assets of Releaf Group from administration.

Candor Medical's founders will both be employed by Vitura following the acquisition, which comprises $4 million cash upfront and $1.9 million in deferred payments. Joel will act as Vitura's general manager - specialty clinics, and Lisa as chief medical officer - specialty clinics.

"We are very pleased to have joined forces with Joel and Dr Lisa Beckett, two recognised leaders in the Australian medicinal cannabis clinic industry," says Vitura CEO Geoff Cockerill.

"We are very excited by the opportunities unlocked by this acquisition which we see as a great opportunity to bring together two leaders in the field, both of whom have a deep alignment on the commitment to providing patients with personalised care and which reinforces our goal to make specialty healthcare product and service verticals more accessible to millions of patients across Australia.

"The ability for us to combine the large patient base of Doctors on Demand that delivers high quality general healthcare, the personalised approach of Candor to deliver an extended patient experience of more specialised healthcare verticals, and the deep pharmacy and distribution network facilitated by Canview will be a game changer to the Australian digital health landscape."

Cockerill adds the acquisition also complements the group's existing physical clinic business, giving patients greater flexibility and options.

"We’re very excited to be joining Vitura and for the opportunities that the acquisition unlocks for our growing number of patients, as well as the future financial performance of the company overall," says Dr Lisa Beckett.

"It is clear we both have an aligned vision for what specialty and emerging healthcare treatments look like in the future and our focus now lies on delivering a smooth integration with the teams and operations to ensure a strong foundation is created for continued growth.

"We would like to give a special thanks to our dedicated team, our partners, and our patients for the continuous support. This transaction marks the beginning of a new chapter for the Candor brand and the first of many exciting growth plans to come from this relationship."

Professor Khalil 'Charlie' Shahin's investment in the company was it slightly more than 6.9 cents per share, representing a 10 per cent discount to the five-day volume weighted average price. Born in Lebanon in a family of Palestinian refugees, Shahin moved to Australia and co-founded Peregrine Corporation with his father, the late Fred Shahin, in 1984.

From Peregrine's origins with a BP service station, the company has since grown significantly, employing more than 7,000 staff and generating an annual turnover of approximately $2.7 billion. As the largest private enterprise in South Australia, it owns Smokemart & GiftBox, Krispy Kreme SA, Peregrine Property and Reliable Petroleum, and is the business behind The Bend Motorsport Park.

"Vitura is very pleased to be welcoming an experienced and proven business leader like Charlie Shahin as a substantial shareholder in the company," says Vitura chair Robert Iervasi, who is also the managing director of SPC Global which launched on the ASX last year through a reverse takeover.

"As a major shareholder of the company, Charlie will bring to Vitura a wealth of experience. Charlie’s investment is an important validation of the potential of Vitura and our strategy reset, and the importance of providing patients with options in how they access healthcare in Australia.

Shahin says he is delighted to become a major shareholder in Vitura.

"The business is well positioned for growth and I look forward to supporting Vitura in its growth platforms," he says.

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