Jardine Matheson buys Australia's I-MED Radiology in $2.4 billion deal

Overview

Updated May 26

Jardine Matheson, the 193-year-old Hong Kong trading house, agreed to buy I-MED Radiology Network from London private equity firm Permira for US$2.4 billion. The all-cash deal hands Jardines control of 215 clinics across Australia and New Zealand that run more than 7 million scans a year.

Permira paid roughly US$900 million for I-MED in 2018. The sale price values the network at about 11.5 times projected EBITDA and gives Jardines a minority stake in Harrison.ai, the Sydney AI startup whose imaging models I-MED helped build. Closing depends on approval from Australia's competition regulator and Foreign Investment Review Board.

Why it matters

One foreign owner is about to control the scans of one in three Australians who get an X-ray, MRI or CT — and the AI being trained on them.

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Key Indicators

$2.4B

Enterprise value

All-cash purchase price, one of the largest Asia-Pacific healthcare buyouts of 2026.

215

Clinics acquired

I-MED sites across Australia and New Zealand changing ownership.

7M+

Annual patient procedures

Scans I-MED performs each year, the largest volume in Australasia.

11.5x

EBITDA multiple

What Jardines is paying relative to projected adjusted earnings for the year to June 2026.

~39%

Permira's return

Estimated gain on the roughly $900M Permira paid EQT for I-MED in 2018.

8 years

Private equity holding period

How long Permira owned I-MED before agreeing this exit.

Voices

Curated perspectives — historical figures and your fellow readers.

Ever wondered what historical figures would say about today's headlines?

People Involved

Ben Keswick

Executive Chairman, Jardine Matheson Holdings

Leading Jardines' push into Asia-Pacific healthcare diagnostics

Kurt Björklund

Managing Partner, Permira

Exiting I-MED after eight years

Jane Lowe

Chief Executive, I-MED Radiology Network

Expected to continue running I-MED under Jardines

Aengus Tran

Co-founder and CEO, Harrison.ai

Co-investor and partner whose stake changes hands with the deal

Organizations Involved

Jardine Matheson Holdings

Conglomerate

Buyer; expanding into healthcare diagnostics

A Hong Kong-based, Bermuda-domiciled conglomerate controlling retail, property, hospitality, motor vehicle and now healthcare assets across Asia-Pacific.

I-MED Radiology Network

Diagnostic imaging provider

Target; largest combined imaging platform in Australia and New Zealand

Australia's largest diagnostic imaging chain, performing more than seven million X-ray, ultrasound, CT, MRI and PET scans a year.

Permira

Private equity firm

Seller; realising eight-year investment

A London-based buyout firm managing roughly US$80 billion, with healthcare among its largest sector concentrations.

Harrison.ai

Medical AI startup

Indirect beneficiary; minority stake changes hands with the deal

Sydney-based AI company building diagnostic decision-support tools for radiology and pathology.

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission

Federal regulator

Reviews the deal under the new mandatory merger regime

Australia's competition regulator, now running the mandatory merger notification regime that took effect on 1 January 2026.

Timeline

January 2000 May 2026

10 events Latest: May 26th, 2026 · 4 months ago

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May 2026
Deal terms become public; analysts dissect the multiple
Latest Reporting

South China Morning Post, Bloomberg and Seeking Alpha publish details: 11.5x EBITDA multiple, 39% return for Permira, Harrison.ai stake included.
May 26th, 2026
Jardine Matheson and Permira announce I-MED sale
Announcement

All-cash deal values I-MED at US$2.4B and bundles in its minority Harrison.ai stake. Closing expected in late 2026 pending ACCC and FIRB approval.
May 25th, 2026
Bloomberg reports Jardines near deal for I-MED
Reporting

The Hong Kong group is said to be nearing a US$2.4B agreement with Permira to take full ownership.
May 24th, 2026
January 2026
Australia's mandatory merger notification regime takes effect
Regulation

ACCC flags radiology and pathology roll-ups as priority sectors for closer scrutiny.
January 1st, 2026
April 2025
OAIC closes I-MED inquiry without enforcement
Investigation

The privacy commissioner accepts that the shared scans were de-identified and not personal information under the Privacy Act.
April 7th, 2025
September 2024
I-MED discloses credential-stuffing data breach
Cybersecurity

Patient files, scans and personal details from three I-MED accounts are exposed after attackers reuse stolen credentials.
September 26th, 2024
Privacy regulator opens inquiry into I-MED AI data sharing
Investigation

The OAIC begins preliminary inquiries into whether I-MED's transfer of scans to Annalise.ai for AI training breached privacy law.
September 19th, 2024
January 2019
I-MED launches annalise.ai with Harrison.ai
Partnership

The joint venture builds Annalise CXR, an AI chest X-ray tool later deployed across I-MED clinics.
January 1st, 2019
September 2018
Permira buys I-MED from EQT for ~$900M
Acquisition

London-based Permira takes the network private from Swedish PE firm EQT, financing the deal against I-MED's Medicare-backed cash flows.
September 17th, 2018
January 2000
I-MED formed from three-way Australian imaging merger
Founding

I-MED, DCA and MIA combine to create what becomes Australia's largest diagnostic imaging chain.
January 1st, 2000

Scenarios

Deal closes on schedule with standard regulatory approvals

Likely Resolves by End of 2026

Discussed by: Bloomberg, South China Morning Post, Seeking Alpha

The ACCC and Foreign Investment Review Board sign off without forcing divestitures. Jardines completes the acquisition by the end of 2026, makes I-MED a standalone healthcare division and keeps Jane Lowe in place. The Harrison.ai stake transfers cleanly and the existing annalise.ai joint venture continues. This is the base case priced into early analyst notes.

ACCC forces divestitures or behavioural conditions before clearance

Possible Resolves by Q2 2027

Discussed by: Global Compliance News, Baker McKenzie, Avant Law

Under the new mandatory merger regime that began on 1 January 2026, the ACCC has flagged radiology as a priority sector. The regulator could require Jardines to sell off clinics in overlapping regional markets or accept pricing commitments before it clears the deal. Closing slips into 2027 and the final shape of I-MED changes. This is the scenario competition lawyers are watching most closely.

Deal collapses or is repriced

Unlikely Resolves by Q1 2027

Discussed by: Reuters M&A desk, DealStreetAsia, radiology business analysts

The transaction unwinds before closing. Possible triggers: an ACCC block, FIRB objections to foreign ownership of patient health data, a fresh I-MED cybersecurity incident, or financing problems if credit conditions tighten. Permira either reopens a sale process or holds the asset for another cycle, and Jardines walks away from its largest healthcare bet.

Harrison.ai stake is carved out of the transaction

Uncertain Resolves by Q2 2027

Discussed by: Information Age, Startup Daily, AFR DealBook

Regulators or co-investors object to a Hong Kong conglomerate holding a minority stake in an AI company already part-owned by Australia's National Reconstruction Fund. Jardines agrees to sell or restructure the Harrison.ai shareholding before closing, leaving the operating I-MED business with Jardines but the AI stake either retained by Permira, transferred to existing investors, or sold separately.

Historical Context

3 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.

September 2018

Permira buys I-MED from EQT (2018)

Permira agreed to buy I-MED from EQT for around US$900 million, ending a five-year EQT hold during which the chain doubled its clinic count. The deal was financed against Medicare-billed cash flows that buyers viewed as stable and inflation-linked.

Then

EQT exited with a strong return and Permira inherited a network of about 200 clinics.

Now

Under Permira, I-MED added clinics in New Zealand, launched the Harrison.ai joint venture and grew earnings enough to triple the underlying valuation by 2026.

Why this matters now

Jardines is buying from the second consecutive private equity owner. Each handoff has added scale and debt; the question is whether a strategic owner can extract more value than the next PE buyer would have.

June 2019

Brookfield buys Healthscope hospitals from public markets (2019)

Canadian asset manager Brookfield took private hospital operator Healthscope private in a A$4.4 billion deal, betting on rising demand for Australian private healthcare. Critics warned that financial-sponsor ownership of essential clinical infrastructure would pressure margins at the expense of staff and patients.

Then

Brookfield restructured the property portfolio through sale-and-leaseback deals to pay down acquisition debt.

Now

By 2025 Healthscope was in receivership, with rents on its leased hospitals exceeding what the operating business could service — a high-profile failure of leveraged healthcare ownership.

Why this matters now

The Healthscope collapse is the cautionary case for foreign and financial owners of Australian clinical assets. Jardines is positioning itself as a long-term operator rather than a leverage play, but regulators and the public will judge it against that recent memory.

April 2023

ACCC blocks Australian Clinical Labs–Healius merger (2023)

The ACCC opposed Australian Clinical Labs' A$2.4 billion bid for rival pathology group Healius. Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said the combined company would have controlled too much of the country's community pathology market and reduced competition for GP referrals.

Then

ACL withdrew its takeover bid within weeks of the ACCC ruling.

Now

The decision became the template for the ACCC's hard line on healthcare roll-ups and helped justify the mandatory merger regime that began in January 2026.

Why this matters now

Diagnostic imaging is the ACCC's next named priority after pathology. The Jardines-I-MED deal is the largest test of how the new regime treats a single buyer concentrating clinical capacity.