iSoft shareholders approve IBA takeover

iSoft shareholders have voted to approve the £142m takeover offer from Australia’s IBA Health for the British software company at the centre of the NHS IT upgrade programme.

Shareholders overwhelmingly approved the resolution to approve the recommended offer for iSoft, the wholly-owned subsidiary of IBA, IBA UK, at an Extraordinary General Meeting on Friday, 6 July.

The deal had looked to be in danger of stalling at the beginning of June when the company that iSoft is a sub-contractor to in the NHS IT programme, Computer Sciences Corporation, threatened to block IBA Health’s takeover. At one stage CSC appeared to be considering its own offer for iSoft.

After threats of legal action on 18 June iSoft announced that it had signed an agreement with CSC that saw it consent to the purchase of iSoft by Australia’s IBA Health. The same deal saw CSC take over development of the development the severely delayed Lorenzo clinical software for the NHS IT programme, now two and a half years late.

Final approvals for the deal are now required from the High Court of Justice. Assuming the necessary final approvals are given the takeover should become effective on 30 July.

On 29 June IBA told the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) that it has successfully raised AU$145.4 million (£62m) in a rights issue, which saw the release of over 137m new IBA shares. The funds raised will be used to retire debt accumulated by iSoft, as well as provide the newly merged entity with working capital.