ONE-TIME NewTel holding Medic Vision has been bought for an undisclosed sum by one of its directors, Ross Horley, through his holding company Mindarie Holdings.
However, the sale of Medic Vision did not include the equipment the company owned at the University of Western Australia’s Collaborative Training and Education Centre, which is used for a wide range of surgical and medical training.
This means UWA will need to find a new manager for the centre’s audio visual and communication links.
Mr Horley said the company was now in the process of raising capital to further its development of virtual reality technology for medicine and also to further the development of telemedicine on a global scale.
“We’ve also secured a Federal Government Commercialising Emerging Technologies grant,” he said.
“That enables us to employ professionals to look at capital raising on our behalf. We’re looking to do some serious capital raising.
“We’re talking to a number of people in the capital raising field.”
Mr Horley said he had taken the chance offered by NewTel’s administration to buy the company.
The WA-based telecommunications provider went into liquidation last month, owing creditors and staff between $40 million and $50 million.
“We actually fell into NewTel by default,” he said.
Medic Vision was originally owned by Cable and Telecoms Limited.
A company called Bio Prospect made an offer for Medic Vision, however that sale fell through.
At the same time NewTel had taken over Cable and Telecoms.
“Because the Bio Prospect deal fell through we went with the rest of Cable and Telecoms into NewTel,” Mr Horley said.
He said he had already proposed a management buyout to NewTel before it had gone into administration because Medic Vision did not seem to fit well within the former telecommunications player’s plans.
Medic Vision has spent more than four years developing infrastructure and relationships with the medical profession.
It also created a medical portal that allowed users to access both video and text-based information online.
Mr Horley said the company would also continue to produce videos and CDs.
