Orion Health shares jump 18% after confirming talks for 'significant transactions'

Orion chief executive Ian McCrae. Photo / Jason Oxenham

Orion Health Group shares jumped 18 per cent after media speculation of a trade sale spurred the health software developer to confirm it was pursuing "potentially significant transactions".

The stock climbed 11 cents to 71 cents after the National Business Review reported the Auckland-based company was close to a trade sale, citing an unnamed source. Orion Health has been reviewing its capital structure over the past year and has settled on a major overhaul of its operations, and while it today acknowledged media speculation about the strategic review and today's NBR report, it said nothing has been finalised.

"Orion Health has, over some months, been progressing potentially significant transactions for the business. However, as with all incomplete transactions, there is no certainty that any transaction will result, or the terms of any such transactions that might transpire," the company said in a statement. "Therefore, no further information will be provided unless and until a proposal reaches sufficient certainty."

The shares sank as low as 57 cents this week after the software developer missed annual revenue guidance, citing delayed contracts for pushing those sales into the next financial year.

At the same time as the profit warning, Orion Health announced plans to save as much as $30 million a year from an operational restructure, having already trimmed $10m of annual costs when it shrank its workforce to 1,050 from 1,200.

Orion Health went public in late 2014 to much fanfare, attracting a $915m valuation in the initial public offering which sold at $5.70 apiece.

The software company had been profitable but chose to forgo earnings in the short-term to build a globally significant business. However, it has struggled to meet optimistic expectations, and is valued at just $139.2m at its current market price.