Ex-Fonterra boss Andrew Ferrier to chair Orion Health

Fonterra chief executive Andrew Ferrier. Photo / Steven McNicholl

Former Fonterra boss Andrew Ferrier has been appointed chairman of New Zealand software developer Orion Health and is already proving himself adept at dodging questions on a possible sharemarket listing by the fast-growing firm.

The company -- which is mulling a stock exchange float that would raise growth capital -- also appointed Lester Levy, chairman of the Auckland and Waitamata District Health Boards, to its board as an independent director at its annual shareholders' meeting at Auckland Hospital today.

Orion develops technology that allows doctors to store and look up patient records online with the aim of increasing efficiency in hospitals and improving patient care.

Founder and chief executive Ian McCrae said many countries were on the brink of a "once in a generation change" in the access and delivery of electronic health services.

The company, which has close to 30 offices around the world, was growing rapidly and becoming increasingly complex, he said.

"Bringing Andrew's experience into the organisation makes a huge difference," McCrae said.

Ferrier, who owns a roughly 1.2 per cent stake in Orion and has been a director of the software firm for two years, said Orion's innovation had motivated him to invest in the company.

"One of the last places to really, truly get digitised is the whole healthcare space," he said. "And it's getting digitised at a time when our technology is unbelievably sophisticated. Orion is sitting there in this great space to help all over the world through the application of information technology."

McCrae has previously confirmed that a sharemarket listing was "one of the options" the company was considering for raising capital.

But Ferrier, who left Fonterra in 2011 and replaces Andrew Clements as Orion's chairman, avoided being drawn in on questions about a possible initial public offer (IPO) today.

"If I had a public statement to make on an IPO we'd make a public statement on an IPO but we just don't have anything to add on that," he said. "We know there are plenty of rumours out there but as a board we go through a rigorous process on whether you decide to do [a listing] or not. At such a time when we think it's the right thing to do we'd announce it and if we decide we're not going to do it we'll announce that we're not going to do it."

Asked if the company could list this year, Ferrier said: "We can't go into that kind of speculation."

He said another option for Orion was continuing to grow the business through "minimal" capital raising.

However, there was an opportunity to raise funds "ahead of the curve" to ramp up growth.

"If we're doing that we can either raise money privately or we can raise money publicly."

He would not reveal how much capital Orion was aiming to raise.

"That's a good question but we won't get into it," Ferrier said. "It depends on how fast we choose to grow. It could be anything from zero to something more than that."

He said Orion's revenue had been growing at 26 per cent a year, on average, for the past 10 years.

The company, whose major markets include the United States and Britain, earned revenue of around $150 million in 2014 financial year.