Hims & Hers expands to Ireland, France, and Germany, and adds to UK. Announced yesterday, the ambitious strategic acquisition of Zava, a similar online direct to consumer provider of telemedicine remedies for weight loss, ED, asthma, STI testing, and birth control (varying by country), will add over 50%, or 1.3 million customers, to Hims’ US base of 2.4 million. Acquisition costs or staff transitions were not disclosed. It is an all-cash deal financed off their existing balance sheet. It is expected to close, subject to the usual approvals, in the second half of 2025.
Hims stock peaked on the news yesterday to above $62/share and since has settled down to its previous $52-53 range. They remain the only unqualified SPAC success in healthcare.
Zava has operated in Europe since 2011, preceding Hims by six years. It is a private company, corporately Health Bridge Limited, registered with Companies House in London, and the UK company was formerly known as DrEd. One of their partners is Asda supermarkets in the UK. Their CEO and co-founder David Meinertz lives in Hamburg.
Hims already has a UK presence due to its acquisition of Honest Health in 2021. From the release, apparently the Zava name will transition to Hims & Hers at some point and be accretive to earnings in 2026. This expansion will include access to British, German, and French healthcare providers in local languages. Another positive factor is that pharmaceuticals are generally less expensive in Europe than in the US.
This Editor wonders if an English-language brand name will transition easily to France and Germany, versus the ‘neutral’ Zava. Hims also states that they aren’t through with their international expansion, so their name will continue to be a concern. Developing CNBC, Fast Company
Some cautions are apparently coming from Wall Street. Reportedly, investor analysts have been consistently shorting the stock on NYSE for months. Both Bank of America and Citi are bearish, with BoA tagging it as an ‘underperform’ with a $28/share target and Citi with $30. (Disclaimer–this is not investment advice). InvestorsObserver
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