CareLabs to absorb Babitalk in merger, expand medical tourism business

[Financial News] Digital healthcare company CareLabs will absorb medical beauty platform Babitalk in a merger and set out to target the global medical tourism market. The plan is to consolidate the management structures of the two entities to simplify decision-making and focus resources on expanding Babitalk’s overseas business.
CareLabs said on the 15th that it would absorb Babitalk, its wholly owned subsidiary. The merger will proceed without issuing new shares. The merger ratio is 1 to 0, with the merger agreement dated October 16 and the effective date of the merger set for December 18.
Babitalk is a platform that supports users from searching for information on plastic surgery and cosmetic procedures to consulting with hospitals and making appointments. Cumulative app downloads surpassed 10 million last April. The platform is expanding its services for users from overseas, including by launching a Japanese-language service last year.
The increase in foreign patients is behind CareLabs’ move to expand Babitalk’s business. According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, 2.01 million foreign patients visited South Korea last year, surpassing 2 million annually for the first time since the relevant statistics began to be compiled. Dermatology and plastic surgery treatments accounted for at least 70% of all foreign patients.
Through the merger, CareLabs plans to reduce duplicated administrative costs arising from operating separate entities and combine its existing network of hospitals and medical institutions, along with its advertising and marketing capabilities, with Babitalk’s business. The company aims to broaden connections between domestic hospitals seeking to attract foreign patients and overseas users, and to boost business synergies by linking the platform’s advertising and marketing services.
CareLabs plans to enhance multilingual features and artificial intelligence (AI)-based services to make the platform more accessible to overseas users. Its goal is to expand into medical tourism services connecting foreign patients with domestic medical institutions while maintaining the competitiveness of its platform in South Korea.
Lee Min-kyung, CEO of CareLabs, said, “This decision is aimed at focusing our capabilities on targeting the global medical tourism market and improving management efficiency and business synergies. We will foster Babitalk as a core business and strengthen our global competitiveness.”

[email protected] Jung Sang-hee Reporter