iSoft is now taking legal action against CSC over its
opposition to its acquisition by IBA.
Last week, both
iSoft and IBA said they were considering legal action against
CSC after the outsourcer said it would not consent to the
acquisition.
CSC is the iSoft contract partner on a major
NHS National Programme for IT contract, and IBA’s acquisition
of loss-making iSoft was dependant on consent being given.
Analysts had already suggested
that
CSC’s lack of consent could have been linked to CSC’s own
interest in acquiring iSoft, and iSoft’s announcement of legal
action alludes to this.
iSoft needs to be acquired and refinanced as its faces
bankruptcy in November when its finance runs out.
CSC is using iSoft’s Lorenzo records system on its NHS contracts
and is helping to develop the platform, which is behind
schedule.
“iSoft is concerned that CSC’s wider interests may be
influencing its conduct on this matter,” said iSoft.
“CSC has been considering a possible offer for iSoft since
November 2006, when it was formally given access to a data room
containing information on iSoft for this purpose,” said iSoft.
It added, “More recently, iSOFT understands that CSC has also
been considering a possible offer structure for iSoft that could
involve the Californian based private equity fund Gores.”
iSoft further revealed, “In the week beginning 21 May 2007, CSC
approached iSoft’s financing banks to explore whether it could
purchase iSoft’s debt. This approach was made without the knowledge
of iSoft and CSC has not, in iSoft’s view, provided a satisfactory
explanation for this approach.”
iSoft and IBA consider legal action against CSC over acquisition
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iSoft website
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