Digital Holdings and Asiri form JV to develop e-Healthcare platform

Digital Holdings Lanka (Private) Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of mobile telephony market leader Dialog Axiata PLC has formed a joint venture company with Softlogic Holdings PLC subsidiary Asiri Hospital Holdings PLC to develop a healthcare sector e-commerce platform.

“Asiri Hospitals and Digital Holdings have come together to incorporate ‘Digital Health’ with the objective of developing and operating a state-ofthe-art electronic commerce infrastructure for Sri Lanka’s healthcare sector,” a disclosure to the Colombo Stock Exchange, said on Friday (August 14, 2015). Digital Health (Private) Limited was incorporated on the same day, and Digital Holdings will own 70 percent of the shares in the new company, while Asiri Hospital Holdings will own the remaining 30 percent.

However, according to a press statement issued by local healthcare e-commerce pioneer E-Channelling PLC, it had obtained a 2-week enjoining order against Dialog Axiata on Thursday (August 13, 2015) preventing the mobile communications giant “to develop and/ or commercially launch a rival IT system for customers and/ or the public to channel doctors and/ or medical professionals through their mobile telephones.”

Issued by the Commercial High Court, the enjoining order states that Dialog Axiata is in possession of confidential information belonging to E-Channelling.

E-Channelling also took an enjoining order against Nawaloka Hospitals PLC to prevent it from investing in or conducting business with another similar thirdparty healthcare e-commerce platform using such confidential information. The case is set to be heard on August 27. A Dialog Axiata spokesperson declined to comment on the matter since it was a matter before courts but said his company will defend it.