Edinburgh firm Craneware in $400m US takeover deal

Craneware provides software services to about a third of American hospitals

Scottish healthcare firm Craneware has announced a $400m (£282m) takeover of a US pharmacy software specialist.

The Edinburgh-based firm, which focuses on providing software for the US healthcare sector, has entered into an agreement to buy Sentry Data Systems.

Sentry, which is based in Florida, has a customer base of 10,000 hospitals, pharmacies and clinics in America.

Craneware said the deal would provide "immediate additional scale" to its US operations.

It currently provides services such as billings software to about a third of American hospitals.

'Opportunity ahead'

Chief executive Keith Neilson said: "Sentry's focus on the hospital link to community pharmacies adds breadth and depth to our healthcare data.

"Sentry's high levels of recurring revenues, customer retention rates, and strong financial metrics, speak to the quality of the business and the people that deliver their offering and we are excited by the scope of the opportunity ahead."

The takeover will be paid for by $312.5m (£220m) in cash, with the rest coming through the issue of shares to Sentry's sellers.

The cash consideration will be funded from Craneware's existing cash resources, a new debt facility and the net proceeds of an equity placing.

The deal is expected to complete early in the third quarter of this year. It is subject to anti-trust clearance in the United States.

Founded in 1999, Craneware employs about 375 people, split evenly between offices in the US and Scotland. The Sentry deal will double its current overall headcount.