Telus Corp. T-T has engaged TD Securities Inc. and Jefferies Securities Inc. as financial advisers for the “near-term” monetization of its healthcare technology division, Telus Health, in a step toward a long-awaited deal that could help the company deleverage its balance sheet and fund growth.

In a press release Thursday morning, Telus said it had retained TD Securities and Jeffries to assist with the strategy and timeline for the monetization of Telus Health, in a process that will include evaluating “all partnership structures” and may involve the identification of strategic partners.

In the release, Telus chief executive officer Darren Entwistle said the company’s monetization strategy is centered on finding a strategic partner to add “complementary skills, customer reach and economic capacity.”

Last year, Telus Health president Navin Arora told The Globe and Mail the company was still exploring various structures for the monetization of that division, but said Telus would retain majority ownership for the foreseeable future.

The company has a past record of seeking such arrangements. In 2016, Telus sold a 35-per-cent stake in Telus Digital to Baring Private Equity Asia, before taking the company public five years later. And last year, Telus sold a 49.9-per-cent stake of its tower subsidiary, Terrion, to the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec for $1.2-billion.

Telus Health has long been part of Mr. Entwistle’s ambitions to spin off the telecom’s various divisions, the first of which took place in the public listing of Telus Digital in 2021.

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Last October, Telus paid investors approximately US$539-million ($747-million) to take back control of that asset, after its share price declined more than 90 per cent in the wake of industry-wide pressures on customer-service businesses, wiping out $7.5-billion in shareholder value.

Telus Health, for its part, generated operating revenue of $1.5-billion, adjusted EBITDA of $258-million and cash flow of $99-million in the first three quarters of 2025, the company said in the release Thursday.

Telus’s first official foray into health was buying Emergis Inc. for $763-million in 2007. At first, the acquisition strategy saw Telus enter adjacent markets, such as pharmacy benefit managers, which work with insurers to process electronic prescription-drug claims filed by pharmacies.

In 2022, Telus Health purchased LifeWorks Inc. (formerly Morneau Shepell), an employee health and wellness company, for $2.9-billion. And last summer, Telus Inc. added to the health division with its acquisition of U.S.-based employee health services company Workplace Options for $500-million.