Sheffield technology firm Servelec announced today the acquisition of Salford-based Aura Limited, which specialises in the UK, Ireland and international healthcare markets.
Aura is a developer of software for the healthcare sector that controls bed management and patient flow across hospitals, clinics and primary care centres, enabling improved care of patients.
The company’s software range of products will continue to be sold on a standalone basis as well as being integrated into Servelec’s Oceano and RiO products thereby adding to their functionality.
This acquisition is part of Servelec’s continued growth within its Health & Social Care division.
The deal comes around six months after Servelec acquired London firm Corelogic, which is a provider of adult and children’s social care case management software, for £23.5m.
The Sheffield company’s latest purchase comprised of £900k worth of debts of Aura, which amounts to £1.1m and a further £1 for Aura’s entire issued and to-be-issued share capital.
An additional maximum amount of £350k will become payable, contingent on the attainment of certain performance conditions over a 3-year period ending April 2018, which will be satisfied by the issue of new shares at the prevailing share price at the time of issue. The initial consideration will be paid from internal cash reserves.
For the year ended 31 March 2015, Aura’s unaudited reported loss before tax was £1.5m on a turnover of £1.1m and gross assets of £600k. Aura’s directors have already taken action to reduce the cost base from £2.6m to less than £1m per annum as at April 2015 and have a strong pipeline of potential revenue. The acquisition is expected to be earnings neutral in 2015 and enhancing thereafter.
Aura’s main product, ‘Flow’, is an intuitive and functionally-rich bed management solution. Its core functionality aims to help the patient’s journey, ensuring timely responses and improved quality of care. In turn, this drives bed management and provides real time indicators of current "bed-state" across an organisation, replacing traditional handwritten whiteboards. Flow is designed for use with large touch screen displays yet it will operate on any device connected to the organization’s network, including desktop PCs and tablets.
Alan Stubbs, CEO of Servelec Group said: "I am very pleased to be able to announce the acquisition of Aura. We have a clear direction of travel which is to be successful in the ‘Refresh’ in the North of England and this Acquisition increases the appeal of our Oceano product and adds further functionality to RiO, our market leading Mental Health and Community Health system.
“The quality of Aura’s technology is second to none. ‘Flow’ is already integrated into Oceano and RiO and with Aura’s established routes to market together with our leading market position, we are really excited by the additional growth opportunities Aura offers."