System C agrees 70p a share bid

US-based McKesson Corporation is making a recommended offer of 70p a share in cash for healthcare IT provider System C Healthcare.The shares were trading at 46.5p prior to the announcement of bid talks. The bid values AIM-quoted System C at £87m. System C has net cash of £15.7m. Shareholders on the register on 25 February will still receive the interim dividend of 0.25p a share. McKesson already has acceptances totalling 33.3% of the System C share capital. System C joined AIM in June 2005 at a placing price of 54p a share, which valued the company at £47.7m. McKesson is a US IT business that has been involved in the healthcare IT sector in the UK since 1999. It is valued at more than $20bn and has annual revenues of $108.7m. As well as IT it distributes drugs and other healthcare products. The combined business will be able to provide a wide range of software and services to the NHS and private healthcare operations. The release of NHS trusts from central procurement of IT will provide opportunities to for the combined group to gain market share.The development of new software and declining revenues from older products pushed System C into loss into the six months to November 2010. That is why management believes that the longer-term prospects of the business will be enhanced as part of a more financially strong company. Sysgroup