iSoft says yes to £166m IBA takeover bid
After almost a year of uncertainty for IBA Health, iSoft's shareholders have "overwhelmingly" approved IBA Health's 166 million pound takeover offer.
The deal offers iSoft shareholders 69 pence cash for each share, representing a 23 percent premium on iSoft's closing mid-market share price on 16 October, according to IBA.
Investment company Allco Equity Partners (AEP) also announced it will support IBA with AU$300 million for a combination of shares and convertible notes which are to be issued by IBA.
To help refinance some of iSoft's debt and for working capital expenses, AEP will commit a further AU$62 million. However, the final amount is contingent on whether iSoft shareholders decide to take cash or IBA shares.
Besides facing rising interest payments on its 93 million pound debt, it was reported that iSoft had been struggling to fulfil its contract to supply Lorenzo as part of the UK NHS's National Programme for IT (NPfIT). Accenture pulled out of the entire project last year after a leaked e-mail claimed that iSoft had "no believable plan" for the delivery of Lorenzo.
"We can now move forward with our integration plans for the group creating one of the world's largest providers of health information technology solutions with operations throughout the regions from Europe through to Australasia," Gary Cohen, executive chairman of IBA Health said in a statement.
IBA's initial offer to iSoft was destabilised in July by German company CompuGroup "="" class="c-regularLink" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">announced in August it had already acquired 23.4 percent of iSoft from its existing shareholders -- some 56.6 million shares. The takeover will make IBA the world's fourth largest e-health group.
Implementation of IBA's revised offer still remains subject to the High Court of Justice for England and Wales, which must sanction IBA's proposed scheme, expected to take place on 25 October.
"IBA will release further information to the market after completion of the formal merger process which is expected to complete on 30 October," said IBA's Cohen.