MISYS, a leading supplier of software to the banking industry, gave a surprise boost to shareholders today after agreeing a disposal worth £900 million.
Shares in the London-based company surged 20% following the agreement, which will see Misys sell the majority of its 54.6% interest in its Allscripts US healthcare joint venture and return a large slice of the proceeds to investors.
The deal paves the way for Allscripts to merge with rival Eclipsys and while Misys will keep around 10% of the combined company it will now be able to concentrate on its banking software division.
From sale proceeds of 1.3 billion US dollars (£900 million), Misys plans to return around one billion dollars (£692.8 million) of the proceeds to shareholders through a tender offer for their shares.
Misys was founded in 1979 and employs over 6,000 people worldwide. It serves 1,200 banking customers and more than 160,000 physicians and 700 hospitals.
Investec Securities analyst Julian Yates said the deal captured a significant amount of the "hope value" that is currently factored into the Allscripts share price in the US.
He added: "This will now enable the market to fully focus on the true value of the banking business. With no mention of banking trading in today’s statement, we would assume that year end forecasts have been met."
