EMIS Group sees clear to acquire eye screening firm in £9.5m deal
HEALTHCARE software provider EMIS Group has bought a West Midlands diabetic eye screening company in a deal worth up to £9.5m.
Medical Imaging, based in Worcester, provides screening services to more than 500,000 patients in England and has a growing presence in Ireland. Its latest accounts, for the year to April, showed pre-tax profits of £1.3m on turnover of £6.3m.
It is the latest acquisition for the Leeds firm which supports its strategy of providing cross-organisational healthcare systems and further enhances its position in diabetic eye screening.
EMIS bought Digital Healthcare last year and said then that it saw opportunities to provide an end-to-end managed diabetic retinopathy screening service.
It believes the addition of Medical Imaging will enable it to further support the NHS and patients through the delivery of services in an area closely aligned to its existing software systems. Medical Imaging manages and supports diabetic eye screening programmes, mainly in England where it has 63% of the outsourced market.
Chris Spencer, chief executive of EMIS Group, said: “It enhances our already strong position in diabetic eye screening, achieved through the 2013 acquisition of Digital Healthcare.
“This is a growing niche market. We expect the acquisition to be not only earnings enhancing in 2015 but also to help prevent blindness in the increasing number of people suffering from diabetes.”
EMIS will pay £6.5m initially, which will come from the group’s existing bank facility. It will then pay a further £500,000 next December, with the potential for a further £2.5m based on performance targets for the 2015-16 financial year.
It expects the acquisition to be earnings enhancing in the first full year of ownership.
