Orion Health unveils $150m IPO plan

Orion Health chief Ian McCrae (left) with Dale Bramley, CEO of the Waitemata District Health Board, say their collaboration will help hospitals to become paperless. Photo / Dean Purcell

Auckland software developer Orion Health has announced plans to raise up to $150 million through an NZX and ASX sharemarket listing in late November, which will fund growth including through boosting the firm's research and development capacity.

Orion's initial public offer (IPO) has been one of the worst-kept secrets in the New Zealand sharemarket. It has been speculated upon for years, but the company - which develops IT systems used in hospitals - consistently avoided any official comment on the IPO other than to say it was one option it was considering for raising capital.

Today, Orion finally confirmed it is planning to raise $120 million to $150 million through an IPO of ordinary shares to clients of retail brokers in New Zealand and institutional investors.

Orion is expected to have a market capitalisation of up to $800 million following the IPO.

An entity associated with chief executive Ian McCrae was looking to sell $5 million of shares through the offer, the company said.

McCrae, who founded Orion in 1993, is the majority shareholder with an almost 60 per cent stake.

Orion said new capital raised through the offer would also be used to deliver capability for growing its customer base, as well as providing additional financial liquidity.

Watch: E-health partenership at Waitemeta Health

"It is expected that a prospectus and investment statement will be available in late October with the shares to be quoted on the NZX Main Board and ASX in late November," the company said.

Orion develops technology that allows doctors to store and look up patient records online and share information between different hospital departments.

The company posted revenue of more than $150 million in its last financial year.
Deutsche Craigs and First NZ Capital are the joint lead managers of the Orion offer.

See Orion's full IPO announcement here: