£1.2b health software takeover to complete in 2023
The £1.2 billion all-cash acquisition of NHS software provider EMIS Group by American health firm UnitedHealth Group is now expected to become effective in the first quarter of 2023, Emis announced to the London Stock Exchange this morning.
EMIS, based in Micklefield, Leeds, and wholly owned UnitedHealth subsidiary Bordeaux UK Holdings II Ltd, (Bidco) are finalising a merger notice with the Competition and Markets Authority, who will launch a phase one investigation into the acquisition.
Under the terms of the deal, Bidco will acquire all EMIS’ shares for its Optum UK affiliate for 1925p each. The planned acquisition was announced in June and approved by EMIS shareholders in August. EMIS shares jumped from 1279p when the deal was announced on June 16 to 1868p the following day. It was trading at 1862p at 7.15am on Tuesday morning.
In September EMIS announced robust trading figures in its half-yearly results to June, with group revenue up by 5% to £87.3m (2021 H1: £83.5m), including revenue of £1.6m from its Edenbridge and FourteenFish acquisitions completed during the period. Recurring revenue increasing by 9%, representing 82% of total revenue.
Chief executive Andy Thornburn said then, “Our focus remains on developing our technology strategy in alignment with healthcare policy and market trends, most notably in the areas of connected care and data and analytics. Our strategy will address the needs of the healthcare sector as it moves further into the digital future and we look forward with confidence.”
