NPS strengthens its international healthcare screening offering

Northgate Public Services (NPS), a software and services provider to the public sector, has today announced the acquisition of three EMIS Group plc businesses for £14.9 million, to strengthen its growing screening and preventative healthcare offering.

The three acquired EMIS Group plc businesses, Digital Healthcare Limited, Medical Imaging UK Limited and MIDRSS Limited, have 25 years’ experience in diabetic eye screening, assessing around 50,000 patients every month in 1,200 different locations.

NPS already has a significant presence in this sector, helping to screen 10 million babies for the Newborn Hearing Screening Program in England and Northern Ireland and testing 500,000 patients with diabetes for retina damage and sight loss under Scotland’s Diabetic Screening Programme. These acquisitions will give NPS a screening presence in eight countries across the globe, including the rapidly growing healthcare market in India.

The total cash consideration for the acquisition was £14.9 million, made up of £14 million paid on completion (inclusive of £5 million of intercompany debtor balances settled in cash by EMIS Group on completion) and £0.9 million of contingent consideration.

Stephen Callaghan, chief executive officer of NPS, owned by NEC Corporation, Japan, (“NEC”, TSE:6701) said, “Uniting our extensive experience in healthcare screening will bring the best possible preventative technology and care to the public, initially in the UK and subsequently in other parts of the world. We are very proud of our existing screening programmes in UK, Ireland and India and are very much looking forward to extending our offering to secure the best possible patient outcomes. Preventative measures, such as screening, will have an increasing role to play in improving health in both the UK and worldwide.”

Lydia Saunders, director and general manager of EMIS Care, said,

“Joining the NPS team brings new and exciting prospects for the detection and prevention of serious health conditions to protect the public internationally.”