Sysgroup Regulatory News (SYS)

28 Jan 2008 07:01

System C Healthcare plc28 January 2008 System C Healthcare PLC acquires Care Records Limited System C Healthcare PLC ("System C" or "the Company"), the provider ofspecialist IT products and services to the healthcare sector, today announcesthe acquisition of clinical systems developer Care Records Limited ("CareRecords") from Huntleigh Healthcare Ltd ("Huntleigh"), one of the UK's largestmedical equipment manufacturers. The consideration for the acquisition is £0.85m in cash on completion, with upto a further £2.6m payable in cash over the next 3 financial years dependent onthe achievement of demanding performance targets. The consideration is to befunded from System C's existing resources. In the year to 31 December 2007, CareRecords reported profits of £0.2m and reported small net liabilities of £0.03m.The board anticipates the acquisition to be earnings enhancing in the financialyear to May 2009, reflecting initial investment in sales and marketingactivities(1). Care Records is a developer of leading-edge technology for the design anddevelopment of clinical IT systems. It has used this core technology to producethe Eclipse maternity system and a diabetes management system, both of whichhave been installed in UK hospitals. Further applications for the acute andcommunity markets are under development and will be available soon. The Eclipse products are developed using the Microsoft.net framework, the samedevelopment environment as MedWay Sigma, System C's next-generation PatientManagement and Electronic Patient Record system. They have also been fullyintegrated with MedWay as part of the Company's recent deployment at the Isle ofMan. During 2007, Care Records has sold and successfully implemented its maternitysoftware at four hospitals: Bradford Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust; Surreyand Sussex Healthcare NHS Trusts; Royal Shrewsbury Hospitals Foundation Trust;and the Nobles Hospital on the Isle of Man. The diabetes management system hasbeen installed at the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust. System C will maintain and extend Care Records' relationship with HuntleighHealthcare, and is setting up joint distribution and collaboration agreementswith Huntleigh for both the UK and overseas markets. System C's chief executive, Ian Denley, commented: "Care Records has developed exciting next-generation systems which integrateseamlessly with our latest Medway development. This acquisition gives Medwayusers a far broader range of clinical functionality and allows us to fast-trackour development programme. We see many new opportunities both within the UK andoverseas as a result of this acquisition." He added: "Another benefit of the acquisition is that we will be building onCare Records' close relationship with Huntleigh, a leading medical equipmentsupplier, and we plan to work closely with them and their clients over thecoming years to provide seamless integration between our respective clinicalsystems and devices." Philip Godfrey, founder of Care Records, highlighted the synergies between thecompanies: "Working with System C will open up many new opportunities for us. Theirexcellent track record in the development of healthcare IT solutions, combinedwith their proven deployment capability, experience and size, are a perfectmatch for us". ENDS For further information please contact System C Healthcare plcDr Ian Denley, Chief ExecutiveAndrew Coll, Finance Director Tel: 01622 691 616 MaitlandEmma Burdett Tel: 020 7379 5151Richard Farnsworth Collins Stewart Europe Limited Mark Connelly/Stewart Wallace Tel: 020 7523 8350 Notes to EditorsSystem C Healthcare plc (www.systemc.com), established in 1983, specialises inthe provision of information systems and solutions to the healthcare sector. Itsemployees have an average of 15 years' healthcare experience and can provide allaspects of systems design, development and deployment services. System C isfounded upon the belief that IT solutions, when effectively implemented, cansignificantly contribute towards improving patient care. System C is a specialist developer and supplier of Patient Administration andElectronic Patient Record Systems to the health service. The Group's MedWayproduct is successfully installed at a number of NHS hospitals including Noble'sHospital Isle of Man, University Hospitals Aintree, Swindon and Marlborough NHSTrust, Tameside Hospitals NHS Trust and the Christie, one of the UK's leadingcancer hospitals. System C has helped to install healthcare systems at over 150 NHS Trusts andoffers a wide range of services to the NHS, other healthcare providers andthird-party suppliers. Services include programme/project/change management,design, build and test, implementation, training, data migration, interfacingand helpdesk/support services. Within the National Programme for IT (NPfIT),System C people have been involved in 75% of secondary care go-lives to date aswell as many GP, community, Single Assessment Programme and child healthdeployments --------------------------(1) This statement should not be interpreted as a profit forecast and does notmean that the future earnings per share of System C, following completion of theacquisition of Care Records, would necessarily match or exceed the historicalearnings per share of System C. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange