At long last, CSC to buy iSOFT

Renai LeMay
Sunday, 03 April 2011 17:53

IT Industry - Strategy

CSC and iSOFT have long worked together on the UK's massive National Programme for IT as part of the country's National Health Service. The project utilises the Lorenzo e-health platform developed by iSOFT before it merged with Australia's IBA Health.

However, iSOFT has been struggling financially for some time. In February the company published its half-yearly financial results, revealing that its revenues had slipped from $222 million for the same period 12 months ago to $167 million. The company made a net loss of $84 million '” compared with a modest profit of $4.8 million a year earlier.

In a statement issued early yesterday, CSC said the acquisition price would be 17c per share '” representing more than three times the company's current share price of 5.2c. The deal will be subject to both iSOFT shareholder approval as well as regulatory approval in the Australian and European jurisdictions.

The buyout will see iSOFT's 3,300 employees scattered around the globe '” including many in Australia '” added to CSC's ranks, as well as bringing more than 13,000 customers, including healthcare providers and governments in 40 countries, into the CSC fold. iSOFT's solutions are installed in more than 8,000 hospitals and clinics internationally.

'iSOFT's electronic health record software and services, coupled with CSC's global healthcare expertise and delivery capabilities, will create a very powerful force in the global healthcare market to enhance the provision of integrated care,' said iSOFT chief executive Andrea Fiumicelli, in CSC's statement.