ASP.L Regulatory News (ASP)

11 May 2006 07:02

Ascribe plc11 May 2006 Ascribe plc ("Ascribe" or "the Group") Ascribe acquires health division ("Jade Health") of Jade Software Corporation ("Jade") for up to £3.38 million. Strategic partnership includes purchase of IP, customer contracts & goodwill Bolton, UK (May 11th 2006) - Ascribe (AIM:ASP), the health IT Group, announcestoday an important strategic move and expansion of its offering in the mentalhealth and Australasian markets with the acquisition of Jade Health, and astrategic commitment with Jade Software Corporation to ensure the long-termapplication development and maintenance of support contracts. Jade Healthprovides IT solutions to 24 hospitals and health service organisations in NewZealand, Australia and the UK. Under the terms of the agreement, Ascribe's subsidiary Protechnic Exeter Ltd hasacquired the Jade Health business for a total consideration of £3.38 millionplus an additional sum in respect of the apportioned current assets andliabilities at the date of completion. The initial consideration of £2.73million is to be satisfied by £1.5m in cash and £1.23m by the issue of 3,804,516new ordinary shares in Ascribe plc. In addition, a deferred consideration of upto £0.65m is payable, approximately 14 months after completion, subject to thebusiness achieving certain sales and profit targets. Jade will continue tosupport the business through long-term application support and developmentcontracts to ensure not only an effective transition of ownership but alsoAscribe's on-going access to skills and technology. In the year ended 31 December 2005, Jade Health recorded a profit before tax ofapproximately £0.3m on sales of approximately £2.3m. The value of the net assetsbeing acquired is estimated at approximately £0.1m. The business being acquiredhas offices in Melbourne and Sydney. The Board of Ascribe expects that thisacquisition will be earnings enhancing during the first year. In line with this announcement, Ascribe has recruited Bryn Evans as ChiefExecutive Officer of its Asia Pacific region. Bryn has over 15 years experiencein managing and providing consulting services for information systems in the UKand Australian health sectors. Bryn will be based in Sydney, where for a numberof years he was CIO of South Eastern Sydney Area Health Service. In the early90s he was also Director of Finance and Information Systems at a large NHShospital in UK. As an independent consultant Bryn has undertaken numerous majorIT projects for health services in different states of Australia, and in theMiddle East. These have comprised consultancies for private sector and publichealth service providers, and government departments in NSW, Victoria,Queensland, and the Commonwealth Government of Australia, and also in NewZealand. Ascribe has today applied to AIM for admission of the 3,804,516 initialconsideration shares, which is expected to become effective on Tuesday 16 May2006. Commenting, Stephen Critchlow, Executive Chairman of Ascribe plc, said: "Expanding Ascribe's customer base internationally is a central part of theGroup's strategy. Acquiring Jade Health significantly increases the criticalmass of the Group in the Australasian market where Ascribe already provideshospital pharmacy software solutions to four of the eight Australianjurisdictions and to 20% of the New Zealand public hospital market. JadeHealth's market leading position and brand recognition creates an excitingopportunity for Ascribe to leverage its expanded portfolio of health solutionsto the Australasian markets." Contacts: Stephen Critchlow, Executive ChairmanTel: +44 (0) 161 280 8080Email stephen.critchlow@ascribe.com Jeremy Lee, Finance DirectorTel: +44 (0) 161 280 8080Email jeremy.lee@ascribe.com Ginny Pulbrook/ Justin Griffiths, Citigate Dewe RogersonTel: +44 (0) 20 7638 9671 Notes to Editors About Ascribe plc Ascribe plc is a leading healthcare company that develops and markets softwaresolutions supporting patient, clinical and business processes to theinternational healthcare market. The Group provides solutions to Emergency andMinor Injuries units, Mental Health and Social Care units, Hospitals requiringpatient administration systems (PAS) and medical equipment management, Hospitaland Retail Pharmacies, and General Practice surgeries. Ascribe plc was floated on AIM in 2004, and currently employs 170 personnelthough its five operating companies in the UK, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Australiaand New Zealand.For more information, please visit http://www.ascribe.com About Jade Software Corporation Established in 1978, Jade Software Corporation is an information technologyresearch and development organisation, with more than 25 years' experiencesupplying enterprise scale software solutions to large businesses and governmentorganisations. The company produces; JADE - an integrated computing platform,products for the healthcare, higher education, HR and payroll, ports andshipping sectors, and also provides custom development services and systemsmanagement. A network of distributors and channel partners sells the company'sproducts and services to companies throughout Asia-Pacific, Europe and NorthAmerica. A privately owned New Zealand company, Jade employs around 250 people throughoutNew Zealand, Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom. The company'sManaging Director is Dr Rod Carr. For more information visit: www.jadeworld.com (c) Ascribe 2006. All rights reserved. Ascribe is a registered trademark ofAscribe plc. All other trademarks remain the property of their respectivecompanies and rights holders. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange