On Thursday, Aug. 18, health information publishing giant WebMD announced purchasing Jim.fr., a French-language medical news and information website targetting healthcare professionals. The terms of the deal between the two companies were not disclosed.
WebMD Acquires Jim.fr.
Founded in 1979 as the Journal International de Medicine or JIM by Dr. Gilles Haroche, the Paris-based company collates and presents all manner of news, reports, and studies from the world of medicine, including new treatments, research and study developments, analysis, op-eds, and profiles of key people from the global health sector.
Jim.fr became an online-only publication back in 1999. As of 2022, the publication has a total of 350,000 subscribers, while Dr. Haroche remains the editorial director more than 40 years after its launch.
Meanwhile, WebMD was founded in the US in 1996 and has gone on to become the leading information provider for health, medicine, and wellbeing, with 130 million monthly visits to its website.
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KKR's Internet Brands bought WebMD in 2017 for $2.8 billion. In the intervening years, it has expanded its geographic and linguistic footprint into several markets in the US and beyond by acquiring smaller local rivals, including MediQuality in 2018, Coliquio in 2020, and MGP in 2021.
Acquisitions have played a major part in WebMD's global and vertical expansion historically. It is a strategy that the company is continuing with as it expands deeper into the French market, where it already has a presence, according to Business Traverse.
While WebMD is familiar to anyone who has searched online for information on ailments, diseases, illnesses, and more, the publication targets a broad audience across the consumer and professional spheres.
This includes HCPs, through its Medscape property which it bought for $10 million. It already has a French-language edition that claims to reach 5 million physicians globally.
Jim.fr. bolsters WebMD's existing reach and competencies for the medical market, according to TechCrunch.
WebMD Global's group general manager Jeremy Schneider said in a press release that both Medscape and Jim.fr have the trust and engagement of thousands of healthcare professionals in France.
In a press release statement, Schneider stated that through the transaction, they could leverage their combined assets further to strengthen Medscape's offering for French and French-speaking professionals while delivering innovative solutions to customers.
Post-acquisition, Jim.fr. Will operate as a subsidiary of Medscape, with plans to integrate services from across their platforms.
Acquiring MNG
Before buying Jim.fr., WebMD acquired MNG Health in early August, according to PRNews Wire.
MNG Health is a leading provider of technology-enabled marketing solutions for life sciences brands.
The acquisition combines the main competencies of MNG Health with that of Medscape, WebMD's clinical information, education, and point-of-care tools platform for healthcare professionals or HCPs, and expands Medscape's capabilities in virtual events omnichannel digital marketing, pharmaceutical sales representative-enablement solutions.
Vincent Muehter, the Senior Vice President of Medscape, said that their global reach had been driven by the company's commitment to delivering innovative solutions to both the global medical community.
Muehter added that MNG Health shares their "depth of knowledge of target audience information needs and preferences," and their focus on "evolving to meet the dynamic changes and demands of the medical industry."
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Written by Sophie Webster
