Healthcare patient comms business set for £15m acquisition

A medical appointment management company in Cheshire is set to be acquired in a £15m deal.

Macclesfield-based Healthcare Communications UK Limited will be purchased by IMImobile, a cloud communications software and solutions provider with offices in London, High Wycombe and Westbury.

IMImobile will fund the transaction with a new £12m debt facility from Silicon Valley Bank alongside existing cash resources.

The company confirmed it will pay an initial cash consideration of £9m upon completion of the deal on a normalised, working capital basis. This will be followed by a deferred payment of up to £6m, payable in cash or shares, subject to Healthcare Communications achieving gross profit growth and EBITDA targets in the next two years.

The acquisition is forecast to enhance IMImobile’s earnings in the year ending March 31 2018.

The year ending April 30 2017 saw Healthcare Communications pull in revenues of £3.6m and an adjusted EBITDA of £400k. The firm works with 140 NHS organisations, annually delivering over 100 million secure patient communications such as outpatient appointment reminders and follow-up letters via SMS, IVM, phone and email.

Healthcare Communications MD Mike Cunningham, who will retain his current position, commented: “We are very excited to become a part of the IMImobile Group, who are a well-established global leader of customer engagement communication solutions to leading enterprises worldwide.

“It will significantly accelerate our ability to invest in our products and services to support NHS England with its digital transformation agenda. I would like to reassure all of our customers that there will be no change to our existing, high-quality services; our 55-strong team remains unchanged and the existing management team will continue at the helm.”

Jay Patel, chief exec of IMImobile, said: “The acquisition of Healthcare Communications significantly enhances our position in the public services sector with a leading digital communications provider in the UK healthcare market, a sector which has seen a renewed focus on operational efficiency and patient experience.

“We see significant potential to support the NHS in delivering material cost efficiency and improved patient experience.”

He continued: “Our solutions can automate and streamline many existing processes and patient journeys and we look forward to demonstrating our capabilities to the Healthcare Communications customer base.”

Grant Thornton’s Richard Goldsack, Joe Pollard and Robert Umpleby led on the transaction on behalf of Healthcare Communications, alongside Frank Shephard and Matt Judge from law firm DWF.

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