£16m acquisition for MedTech business
EMIS Group the UK leader in connected healthcare software and services says it has delivered a “strong performance above expectations” for the year ending 31 December 2021 as it announced its second acquisition of 2022.
The Leeds headquartered business has purchased FourteenFish, a UK-based technology company that supports over 100,000 healthcare professionals – including GPs, nurses and practice managers – with their continued professional development and ongoing industry learning, for £15.6m
Dr Shaun O’Hanlon, chief medical officer at Leeds-based EMIS
Speaking about the deal for the company which is the preferred partner for the Royal College of GPs (RCGP) Dr Shaun O’Hanlon, EMIS Group chief medical officer said it was “a timely acquisition that will enable EMIS to further support healthcare professionals at a time when pressures on their workloads”.
He added: “FourteenFish’s suite of learning tools and its philosophy to make learning easier and more enjoyable for healthcare professionals will add real value to our customers and expand our reach in an important space within the healthcare industry.
The deal follows EMIS’s acquisition of Edenbridge Healthcare in January as the group continues its grow by acquisition strategy.
The news comes as the MedTech business reported that revenues increased by 6% to £168.2m as it saw what chief executive Andy Thorburn describe as “trading return to a more normal patter” following the pandemic and says the business is moving towards the next stage of its evolution.
The results note that EMIS Enterprise, the group’s division which looks at business areas where revenue is derived from B2B healthcare sector sources such as medicine management and analytics saw growth, with ti now accounting for 40% of the group’s profits.
Thorburn said: “It has been a positive year of good growth and margin performance driving strong results.”
He noted that the group has continued to develop technology inline with its roadmap and is committed to investment to drive growth noting that within the NHS and wider healthcare sector there is an “increasing recognition of technology as central to solving some of the challenges the industry now faces”.
He explained that following an ahead of schedule launch in 2020 of its EMIS-X Analytics it is moving further into the research and life sciences market over the last 12 months and is working with Pfizer and Bristol Myers Squibb on new project which are generating a lot of interest in the market.
Looking ahead Thorburn said that EMIS is moving “towards the next stage of our evolution” which will focus on interoperability, integrated care and data and analytics positions us well for growth.
He added: “EMIS Group is well placed with products directly aligned to market need, including integrated care software to the NHS, and data and analytics technology to the research and life sciences industry. This will be critical as the sector looks to provide the best healthcare possible to the UK population.
“We are confident of delivering a higher level of consistent revenue growth, as well as expanding margins by completing the next stage of our technology and cloud refresh strategy over the coming years.
“Technology remains critical to the NHS as it looks to life beyond the pandemic. EMIS strategy and technology development remain closely aligned with NHS policy, supporting both end-users and strategic NHS organisations alike, to deliver the shared goal of better health.
