Further clarification - actually Corum (then Cosmos) only paid Faulding a consideration of just over $2m for Amfac (and they actually borrowed from Faulding to raise the cash! ). That was probably a very good deal. In the early 2000s, after firstly acquiring Pharmasol and then Amfac that gave Cosmos a solid majority share of the pharmacy software market. They also acquired their E-commerce business and Surefire retail pos business. The delisted Medicines Quantile shell company was used to list Cosmos on the ASX.
For those interested, the article below gives some insight into the mess created by Cosmos's attempt to grow revenue quickly though multiple acquisitions but not control costs.
It took some time to recover from the early gung ho financing approach, however the E- commerce and pharmacy software operations continued to generate good positive cash flow. Bill Paterson's support was critical to survival from the debt crisis that could have bought the company down. Now renamed as Corum, it has come a long way being debt free and a $12m war chest. Strong competition has now seen Corum's market share down currently at about 40%. However, their products are more sophisticated an attract higher pricing than some of the lesser competitors. Rationalisation in the pharmacy software space is perhaps overdue, however Corum's current approach to an acquisition is being very conservative not wanting to rush in and make similar mistakes again. Fair enough but I hope there are discussion occurring.
COO Price at posting:
7.5¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
