I think it was Sircorp who suggested ISF would be a takeover...

I think it was Sircorp who suggested ISF would be a takeover target at these prices.

While I agree that there might be several parties that would like to get their hands on Lorenzo, I suspect most of them would rather bid for the parts of iSoft they want from a distressed seller rather than pay up for the whole business.

A hostile takeover is very unlikely (other than perhaps by CSC) as any buyer would want to see the terms of contracts with CSC in order to value the business. There is also the blocking stake of OCP and management to get past.

As to what Lorenzo is worth to another party, it is interesting to consider what IBA was prepared to pay in 2007 to secure iSoft - 167m GBP. While back then, it equated to $A410m, the exchange rate now only puts it at around $A290m.

Currently ISF has a market cap of around $A254m (at 24.5cps), with a further $A170m of net debt - perhaps more by now. To acquire ISF at the same EV as IBA acquired iSoft would suggest an acquisition market cap of $120m - i.e less than half current share price.

Seems to me that there are arguments both for and against the current ISF being worth more than the former iSoft was as a takeover proposition at this point. But to set against the value of further development of Lorenzo is the current uncertainty regarding its deployment under NPfIT. Also the fact that the world has changed considerably since 2007 and valuations of equity have shrunk from the 2007 heyday.