media release
26 November 2021
HESTA expands investments in digital healthcare innovation
HESTA is expanding its investment in leading Australian health software solutions, today announcing it has acquired a $120m equity stake in the newly combined Genie Solutions and Citadel Group.
Citadel acquired Genie Solutions last month. HESTA, an investor in Genie since 2017 through IFM Private Equity, reinvested the bulk of its proceeds from the sale of Genie into an investment into the newly combined Citadel Group maintaining its exposure to a fast-growing business and the digital healthcare sector more broadly. Both Citadel and Genie are leading providers in their respective market segments.
“HESTA’s deep relationships across the fast-growing healthcare sector gives us a unique investment perspective that’s helping to deliver outstanding investment performance for our members,” HESTA CIO Sonya Sawtell-Rickson said.
“We’re proud to be continuing to invest in the next chapter of Genie Solutions’ growth. Our investment in Citadel Group will give us exposure to a group of companies providing healthcare and enterprise software services in Australia and globally.”
Genie has developed into the leading market provider as the sector rapidly expands the digital support for healthcare provision. With Genie, the investment in Citadel is a natural fit for HESTA, and its more than 900,000 members. On the frontline of the health and community services sector, many members are likely users of Citadel and Genie software.
“Investments like this are helping improve our members’ experience at work, while also supporting digital innovation in their sector,” Ms Sawtell-Rickson said.
Mark McConnell, CEO of the Citadel Group, said: “We welcome the investment of HESTA as a well-informed partner, particularly given its history with Genie. The combined business is the leading software provider for medical specialists, diagnostic testing, and medical treatment. We are very confident that the combination of the two businesses will bring great benefits, namely better diagnosis and patient care.”
Citadel is majority owned by private equity firm Pacific Equity Partners, and HESTA’s investment alongside PEP expands the existing relationship HESTA has with PEP, namely as an investment manager for HESTA’s investments in infrastructure via PEP’s Secure Assets Fund. HESTA continues as an investor in IFM Private Equity.
“Through our long-term relationships with leading investment managers, we’re focused on investing in innovative companies that are developing the technologies and growth industries of the future that’s also contributing to strong long-term returns for members,” Ms Sawtell-Rickson added.
“Through their super, our members are helping commercialise life-saving medical breakthroughs, developing cutting-edge clean tech to tackle climate change and future-proofing the sectors in which they work by supporting digital innovation.”
Ends.
About Citadel
Founded in 2007, Citadel is a global software and services firm specialising in markets such as Health, Defence and large enterprise deployments. Citadel has leading market positions in Australia for public pathology and oncology data management, and in the UK for radiology and maternity data management. Citadel is charged with keeping people and information safe and is constantly seeking to harness world class technology solutions to improve patient outcomes.
About Genie Solutions
Genie Solutions has been providing practice management solutions to Australian Specialists for over 20 years. The company was founded in 1995 on two important principles – deliver a quality product and provide customers with a first-class support team. They offer the Specialist industry two products, Genie and Gentu. Genie has grown to be Australia’s most popular desktop product, whilst Gentu offers customers the mobility and freedom of cloud software