ASP.L Regulatory News (ASP)

26 Sep 2008 07:00



Ascribe plc

("Ascribe" or "the Group")

Ascribe acquires healthcare division of WCI Consulting Ltd.

Ascribe (AIM:ASP), the health IT Group, is pleased to announce the acquisition of WCI Consulting Ltd's healthcare division ("WCI Healthcare"). WCI Healthcare has over 20 years' experience in delivering high quality consultancy and implementation resource to the NHS and offers a wide range of professional services. Ascribe will benefit from the expertise of over 30 trained members of staff joining from WCI Healthcare, who will help to deliver integrated IT solutions from the Group's growing sales pipeline.

The WCI Healthcare team are experts in project implementation, particularly providing integration and consultancy expertise for larger enterprise wide solutions. They are currently working with Connecting for Health and BT, as well as having contracts with local NHS Trusts.

Under the terms of the agreement, Ascribe has acquired the trade and assets of WCI Healthcare for a cash consideration of £650k payable on completion with a further £300k deferred consideration paid in twelve months subject to certain performance criteria. The assets being acquired will be determined from accounts prepared after completion. For the year ended 31 December 2007, the Board estimates WCI Healthcare delivered a pre-tax profit of approximately £263,000, on sales of approximately £3.5m, excluding £200,000 of allocated central costs not required post acquisition.

Commenting on the acquisition, Stephen Critchlow, Executive Chairman of Ascribe plc, said: "We are delighted that WCI Healthcare has become part of the Ascribe group. We will now be able to offer consultancy and integration services to our customers, further enabling us to improve information provided at the point of care. This will extend the offering to our customers as they implement systems locally."

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Notes to Editors

Ascribe plc is a leading healthcare company that develops and markets software solutions that support patient, clinical and business processes to Primary & Secondary healthcare providers in the UK and overseas. 

Ascribe is committed to providing technologies that improve patient safety standards and the company's solutions directly improve patient care and deliver financial savings to customers. The Group sells directly to hospitals and Primary Care Trusts and has also been awarded framework agreements by the ASCC on behalf of Connecting for Health (CfH).

The Group provides solutions to health organisations and clinical professionals in all healthcare sectors; customers include Emergency and Minor Injuries Units, Mental Health and Social Care Units, Hospitals requiring patient administration systems (PAS) and medical equipment management, Hospital and Retail Pharmacies, and General Practice surgeries. Offering patient and decision support information to these clinicians in context with their activity is the key to the company's ongoing success.

Ascribe plc was floated on AIM in 2004, and will now employ over 265 personnel through its operating companies in the UK, Kenya, Australia and New Zealand. For more information, please visit www.ascribe.com.

© Ascribe 2008. Ascribe is a registered trademark of Ascribe plc. All other brands and product names and trademarks are the registered property of their respective companies.