Brave? Reckless? Either way, software group Misys ignored the chilly market weather on Tuesday, raising £75m in a placing to help fund the long-rumoured merger of its health services division with Allscripts Healthcare Solutions of the US.
JPMorgan Cazenove were notionally looking for buyers of 42.8m new Misys shares at 175p apiece – a huge premium to the market price of Misys, sitting at 141p.
But then the issue is underwritten by ValueAct Capital, the American activist fund which currently owns 19.4 per cent of Misys. Assuming no one else wants to pay over the odds for more Misys stock, ValueAct’s holding will rise to 25.8 per cent after the deal.
The backstory here is that Mike Lawrie, who became chief executive at Misys in November 2006 after the failed buyout attempt by Kevin Lomax, used to be a partner at ValueAct. The American fund has been gradually extending its influence over Misys ever since.
The merged Misys Healthcare/Allscripts business, with a projected value of around $5bn, will be 54 per cent controlled by the British company.
Related links:
Accompanying trading statement from Misys
FT London stock market report