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11 Feb 2010
Advanced Computer Software (ACS) has bought COA Solutions for £100m to create a healthcare IT powerhouse.
London-based ACS today announced it has agreed a cash deal for COA owner Redac Holdings. The company was previously owned by private equity house Alchemy Partners, which invested £43.3m eight years ago.
The COA buy-out is the latest deal of a busy year for acquisitive ACS. Last summer, the firm coughed up £15.5m for hardware VAR Business Systems Group, before paying an undisclosed amount for ISV Staffplan.
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Headquartered in Surrey, COA posted revenues of about £60m in its last fiscal year, making it double the size of its acquirer. Half of its turnover is drawn from the public sector and not-for-profit organisations. It also boasts a stack of corporate clients, including banking powerhouses Barclays, the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Santander, as well as British Airways, Trinity Mirror and Specsavers.
ACS, which specialises in primary care IT provision, funded the deal through its own resources and £55m in new bank debt. HSBC and RBS have provided the London-based firm with a term loan of £25m and a £30m revolving credit facility.
The expanded ACS Group will comprise of two divisions: Business Solutions; and Healthcare, Public Sector & Emergency Services. The company will have about 800 staff, with operations in the UK, India, Vietnam and the US.
Vin Murria, chief executive of ACS Group, said: "This is an excellent earnings-enhancing acquisition that significantly strengthens our position in the healthcare and public sector markets. It also brings us direct engagement with senior decision makers who need to deliver the kinds of efficiency savings that our combined product set can offer.
"There are substantial opportunities to cross sell our existing healthcare products into new markets while many of our existing healthcare clients could benefit from management tools in the COA product suite. Furthermore, it gives us a substantial and profitable commercial arm with a blue-chip client base that we will combine with our existing commercial arm."
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