CSC's iSoft buy clears final legal hurdle

Computer Sciences Corporation's (CSC) bid for troubled health software vendor iSoft has cleared its last regulatory hurdle after the Federal Court yesterday gave share purchase schemes the final rubber stamp.

The court approved the buyout of all shares in iSoft with shareholders set to receive $0.17 cents per share as a result of the deal. Option holders in five different schemes will receive between $0.001 and $0.033 per option.

iSoft is set to enter a trading halt today before its official removal from the Australian Stock Exchange.

The road to acquisition has been less than smooth for CSC after the software and computing giant hit roadblock after roadblock thrown up by iSoft shareholders and ex-managing director Gary Cohen.

Cohen had reportedly been approached by investors with better offers for the company and instituted legal proceedings to stop the sale.

Cohen's attempts to block the sale were thrown out of the NSW Supreme Court. Oceania Capital Partners (OCP) then challenged the sale, seeking clarification on the price being offered by CSC for iSoft's convertible notes.

Shareholders were split into two groups following the OCP hearings who subsequently voted last week in favour of the deal. A final interlocutory hearing in Sydney yesterday saw the deal clear its final hurdle.

CSC executives said at a media briefing in April that once iSoft had been acquired, the company would be subject to ongoing cost cutting and restructuring to bring it back into the black.