Irwin Mitchell Advises On Deal

The Sheffield office of law firm Irwin Mitchell has advised on a deal which has seen a leading supplier of social care and health software solutions to top tier local authorities in England being acquired in a multi-million pond deal.

Open Objects Software Limited, a specialist in the UK public sector social care and healthcare software market, has been purchased by Idox plc for up to £5.2 million.

Open Objects is a market leader in the provision of adult social care and family services software and services to local authorities and also supplies health bodies and third sector organisations in the UK.

Idox a leading supplier of specialist information management solutions and services, is listed on AIM and has a market capitalisation of £229m. The acquisition is in line with Idox’s target of achieving £100m of revenues at sustainable margins in the short to medium term, through a combination of organic growth and acquisitions.

Open Objects delivers a wide range of managed cloud services including Information, Advice and Guidance Hubs, Social Care Marketplaces, Special Educational Needs Hubs, Online Care Assessments and Practitioner Portals. Its SAAS solutions provide innovative search and database-driven websites.

The acquisition supports Idox's strategy of extending its public sector domains and expanding its delivery of digital services across all areas of local government. This acquisition of Open Objects is expected to enable Idox to increase significantly its market share in this important domain and to provide an increased range of value enhancing services to all its customers.

Matt Ainsworth and Michael Hall from the Sheffield office of Irwin Mitchell advised Open Objects. They worked alongside a team from specialist corporate finance firm Dow Schofield Watts, comprising of Roger Esler and Paul Herriott.