Medical software company Helix Health has raised €9m in business development and expansion funding from BlueBay Ireland.
Helix, which provides software and services to healthcare professionals, will use the funding to support organic growth as well as finance future acquisitions.
The company has a team of over 125 employees engaged in research and development and customer service supporting more than 4,000 pharmacies and private medical practices throughout the UK and Ireland.
BlueBay Ireland Corporate Credit (BlueBay Ireland), a vehicle established by BlueBay Asset Management with substantial investment from the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) to provide loans to larger SMEs and mid-sized corporates, is providing €9 million in business development and expansion funding.
Under the terms of the agreement, BlueBay Ireland will provide €9m of funding to Helix Health under a five year committed senior loan facility.
Helix Health intends to utilise the funds to finance investment in organic and acquisitive growth and to facilitate an exit for the 2007 Davy BES Fund.
The Davy BES investment was made in 2008 and assisted Helix Health in achieving its growth plans over the last five years.
More acquisitions in the pipeline
“This new, long term funding provided by BlueBay Ireland will provide Helix Health with significant funding capacity and the flexibility to investigate additional organic growth and acquisition opportunities in the UK and Ireland and overseas,” explained Matthew Scaife, chief financial officer of Helix Health.
“Our team has successfully transformed our business into a leading provider of pharmacy and private medical practice management software in the UK and Ireland through a combination of organic investment and acquisitive growth.
“We are actively investigating a number of opportunities to acquire businesses with a complementary product and customer base in the UK and overseas,” Scaife added.
Helix Health has completed two acquisitions in the last two years in the UK. DGL Solutions, acquired in 2013, is a provider of private practice management software in the UK providing systems to consultants at many of the leading private healthcare facilities.
RxWeb, acquired in 2012, is the only web-based pharmacy dispensing software in the UK and offers significant benefits to both independent and multi-site pharmacies. Since its acquisition, Rx Web has achieved accreditation from the NHS for the electronic prescribing service and has become the fastest growing pharmacy system in the country.
Helix Health is currently investigating a number of opportunities to acquire similar companies with complementary technologies and strong positions in overseas territories.
Funding image via Shutterstock
