ASP.L Regulatory News (ASP)

23 May 2005 07:02

Ascribe plc23 May 2005 23rd May 2005 Ascribe plc (Ascribe) makes strategic move into Accident and Emergency (A&E) with the £2.6 million acquisition of Footman Walker Limited (Footman Walker) The Board of Ascribe (the Board), the health IT group focusing on medicinesmanagement, announces today an important strategic move and expansion of theiroffering with the acquisition of Footman Walker, the leading supplier ofinformation systems into Accident and Emergency and minor injuries units. Amarket leader, Footman Walker provides systems into 30% of Accident andEmergency departments within the UK National Health Service. The total consideration of £2.6 million, including a deferred element of£800,000, is to be satisfied by a mixture of cash and new ordinary shares(further details are provided in Notes to Editors). In a medical emergency access to information about a patient and their medicalneeds, in terms of medicines, is critical. Ascribe's existing IT productsprovide the clinician with medication information which, combined with FootmanWalker's system, offers the complete view of the patient's information,seamlessly, during the treatment of medical emergencies. In the year ended 30 April 2004, Footman Walker made a profit before tax of£242,000 on a turnover of £1.24 million. Results for the year ended 30 April2005 are expected to be ahead of last year. Winning over 80% of advertised newbusiness means the company is seeing unprecedented growth with a strong orderbook. The value of the net assets being acquired is approximately £250,000. TheBoard believes that this acquisition will be earnings enhancing during the firstyear. Commenting, Stephen Critchlow, Chief Executive of Ascribe plc, said: "Patientinformation systems are a crucial component of the Government's healthcareagenda and connectivity of inter-departmental patient information is vital,particularly in the area of A&E where time critical life saving treatments areundertaken. The combining of our products addresses this requirement and represents asignificant milestone for Ascribe. The acquisition is earnings enhancing and thebusiness is expanding in a market where it is the recognised leader. Themanagement and development team will be a considerable asset to the group as wecontinue to deliver on our growth strategy." Contacts: Ascribe plc Tel: +44 (0) 161 280 8080 Stephen Critchlow Chief Executive Jeremy Lee Tel: +44 (0) 161 280 8080 Group Finance Director Citigate Dewe Rogerson Tel: +44 (0) 207 638 9571 Ginny Pulbrook Justin Griffiths Notes to Editors: • The consideration comprises (i) an initial element of £1,838,250 to be satisfied on completion as to £1,038,250 in cash and through the issue of 3,479,260 new ordinary shares in Ascribe to the vendors, and (ii) a deferred element of up to £800,000 to be satisfied on the first anniversary of completion as to £200,000 in cash and, at the discretion of Ascribe, through the issue of new ordinary shares in Ascribe to the value £600,000 (based on the closing market value of Ascribe's shares in the 3 working days prior to the first anniversary of completion) or £600,000 in cash dependent upon the turnover of the Footman Walker group in the year following completion. Ascribe has today applied to AIM for admission of the 3,479,260 initial consideration shares, which is expected to become effective on 27 May 2005. • Ascribe is a health IT group focusing on medicines management through the development and marketing of software solutions supporting patient, clinical and business processes to the international healthcare market. The Group consists of ASC Computer Software Limited, a software supplier to hospital pharmacy departments internationally and Protechnic Exeter Limited, a provider of software solutions to the primary healthcare market. Ascribe joined AIM on 17 December 2004 raising £5.5m before expenses. The software produced by Ascribe addresses the Audit Commission report 'ASpoonful of Sugar' published in 2001, which identified potentially up to 1,200lives and £500 million per year from certain medication errors in UK hospitalsalone could be saved using clinical information systems. Ascribe's systemenables pharmacists to store information about the patients they treat and usethis information to assist in their decision-making. The system also integrateswith stock control procedures. The latest web based product has further enabledtechnology to link the information between customers building a solution wherethe risk of the above medication errors can be reduced. Protechnic Exeter supports those who provide care within Primary Care,Community, Mental Health and Social Care. Its ePEX software is widely usedthroughout the United Kingdom and Ireland to provide specialist mental healthsystems to support the administration, clinical management and informationactivities of the Trusts; and child care systems for interactive scheduling forvaccinations, immunisations and surveillance, providing a longitudinal record ofpatients from birth into adulthood for all community services. Its Exetersoftware is widely used by UK GP practices. After considerable investment in web based solutions, the Group's strategy is touse this software to enhance its offering, initially to Protechnic Exetercustomers and then to customers of other acquisitions as they are completed andintegrated, delivering a Group capable of addressing the whole medicinesmanagement market. For further information, please visit: www.ascribe.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange