ASP.L Regulatory News (ASP)

15 Mar 2006 07:01

Ascribe plc15 March 2006 Ascribe plc ("Ascribe" or "the Group") Ascribe acquires Patient Administration System ("PAS") supplier Barwick Systems Limited ("Barwick") for £2.0 million. Ascribe (AIM:ASP), the health IT Group, announces today an important strategicmove and expansion of their offering with the acquisition of Barwick Systems, asupplier of pan hospital Patient Administrations Systems "PAS". Barwick Systemsprovides software to 13 hospitals within the UK National Health Serviceincluding software to private hospitals in the UK, many of which also useAscribe's Pharmacy or Accident & Emergency systems. The total consideration of £2.0 million is to be satisfied by cash. Theacquisition will be earnings enhancing in the first year. This acquisition enables Ascribe to offer a complete administration and clinicalsystem to a hospital for the first time. Barwick has recently signed a contractto replace a legacy PAS system at an NHS Trust where the National Programme hasbeen unable to deliver. Together with the software from Ascribe a total solutioncan be offered to meet all the needs facing clinicians and managers today. In the year ended 31 March 2005, Barwick Systems made a profit before tax of£191,444 on a turnover of £706,595. Barwick is growing well and together withthe cross selling opportunities, this acquisition will offer significantopportunities in the coming years. Commenting, Stephen Critchlow, Executive Chairman of Ascribe plc, said: "Thisacquisition is immediately earnings enhancing, but more importantly is astrategic move to place Ascribe in the Patient Administration System market.Patient information systems are a crucial component of the Government'shealthcare agenda. The Ascribe offering will now enable Trusts to integratetheir departmental systems with their administrative systems and also have asystem that can be compliant with all National Initiatives. Ascribe is now wellplaced to meet all the IT needs of our Healthcare customers. Contacts: Stephen Critchlow, Executive ChairmanTel: +44(0) 161 280 8080Email stephen.critchlow@ascribe.com Graham Lewis, Chief Executive OfficerTel: +44(0) 161 280 8080Email graham.lewis@ascribe.com Ginny Pulbrook/ Justin Griffiths, Citigate Dewe RogersonTel: +44 (0) 20 7638 9671 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, Hospital and RetailPharmacies, and General Practice surgeries. Ascribe plc was floated on AIM in 2004, and currently employs 160 personnelthough its four market leading companies in the UK, Hong Kong, Malaysia,Australia and New Zealand. For more information, please visit http://www.ascribe.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange