Cobbetts LLP’s Leeds corporate team has advised Yorkshire-based EMIS Group plc on its £9.9 million acquisition of pharmacy software and services company, Rx Systems Limited.

EMIS Group plc, the UK’s leading supplier of healthcare software to GPs, has acquired 78.9 per cent of the issued share capital of Watford-based Rx Systems. The transaction will diversify EMIS Group’s service offering into dispensary management systems and build on the firm’s presence in the pharmacy sector.

Rx Systems, which began trading in 2004, has developed a range of integrated pharmacy and retail systems for the UK pharmacy industry. Its core products include the Windows-based dispensary management system, ProScript, and pharmacy chain management system, ProManager. Rx Systems also is fully compliant with the NHS Connecting for Health’s Electronic Prescription Service phase 1 (EPS1) and is currently piloting phase 2 (EPS2).

Rx System’s customer base comprises 2,500 pharmacies, representing a 20.5 per cent share of the available market. For the year ending 31 January 2010, Rx Systems recorded revenues of £9.97 million and generated a normalised profit before tax of £1.43 million.

Corporate partner, Guy Jackson, who led the deal team for Cobbetts, said:  “The acquisition of Rx Systems follows EMIS Group’s core strategy to grow the business organically and through acquisition. The service offering of Rx Systems will also complement EMIS Group’s existing presence in the online and mail order pharmacy sector.

“Following the recent white paper on reforming the NHS, pharmacies are likely to play an increased role in the provision of localised health services.  IT management systems, such as those provided by Rx Systems, will enable pharmacies to work more efficiently to deliver these services and meet the rising demand and expectations placed upon them.”

The Cobbetts team comprised corporate partners, Guy Jackson and Dan O’Gorman, corporate associates, Abbie Robinson and Nia Bryan, and solicitor, Agata Walton, who also advised EMIS Group plc on its £175 million admission to AIM in March 2010.