IBA Health set to table £230m iSoft offer

Australia’s IBA Health is tonight expected to make a £230m offer to buy its far larger UK rival iSoft, reports the Times newspaper today. 

If successfully concluded the all-share deal would overnight propel IBA Healthcare into the premier league of healthcare software firms, multiplying its turnover by a factor of seven.

IBA last week outlined plans for an offer valuing the company at around £140m.  iSoft also has debts of around £89m.

The purchase of iSoft would make IBA Health responsible for successful completion and delivery of key clinical software to three-fifths of England under the £12bn NHS IT programme.

A deal would have to be approved by iSoft shareholders before being completed. In addition iSoft’ prime contractor in the NHS IT programme, Computer Sciences Corporation, plus the NHS’s Connecting for Health IT agency would also have to give the deal the thumbs up.

Last Monday IBA Healthcare sought and obtained a six day voluntary suspension of its shares on the Australian Stock Exchange to enable it to secure backing from investors for the deal. It today sought and obtained one additional day.

IBA Health today said that the voluntary suspension is now expected to end with the commencement of trading on Wednesday 16 May 2007.