Patientline Share Discussion Threads

[gcom2] 06/8/2009 16:09

Wonder what this bunch of cowboys are doing now?

[scribbler101] 27/7/2008 17:06

The TimesJuly 26, 2008

Shareholders left for dead as rival snaps up UK assets of PatientlineCatherine Boyle
Patientline, the hospital communications provider, was taken private yesterday in a deal that rendered shareholders' investments worthless.

The company has sold its subsidiary Patientline UK to Hospedia, a newly incorporated company that includes Patientline's main competitor, Premier Telesolutions. Following the sale, shares in Patientline are expected to be cancelled from July 28, leaving 120 institutional investors out of pocket.

The company's shares had sunk from their January 2002 high of 228½p to ¼p yesterday.

Hospedia will be run by Tim Weil, chief executive of Premier, with Tim Sherwood, a director of Redstone, the communications company, as chairman, subject to approval from the Office of Fair Trading. It is understood that although Patientline executives will be kept on, none will be on the board.

Related Links
Patientline shares plummet after company reveals leap in losses
Patientline was previously run by Derek Lewis, former head of the Prison Service, who successfully sued Michael Howard, the Home Secretary of the day, for unfair dismissal. Mr Lewis was ousted by a shareholder revolt in 2006.

Patientline said yesterday that after working with its lenders to find a resolution to its level of debt and carrying out a review of its options, it had decided to file for administration, appointing Deloitte & Touche as its administrators.

Patientline's debt is being cut by more than £35 million through a debt-for-equity swap in which the banks – Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC, Bank of Scotland, and IKB Deutsche Industriebank – swap the debt for shares in Hospedia. Once the takeover is approved, Milestone Capital, which owns the majority of shares in Premier, will also become a shareholder in Hospedia, along with the management team led by Tim Weil.

Hospedia will also receive more than £12 million of additional investment from Patientline's banks.

The sale to Hospedia means that the company will continue to operate bedside console services in hospitals across Britain. Its handsets and monitors, fitted to 80,000 beds when Premier is included, can be used for telephone, TV, games, internet and radio. Patients or their families pay a fee to use them. Hospedia hopes to install a further 20,000 monitors.

Nick Winks, chief executive of Patientline, who took over last November when the business was running £87 million of debt, said: "After . . . exploring many potential options, I am convinced that this transaction is in the best interests of our customers, staff and banks."

Shares in the company plummeted in 2006 after it was the subject of an Ofcom investigation into overcharging for its services. It was exonerated, but the telecoms regulator recommended a review of its pricing structure and stopped it installing new terminals during the investigation. It has since suffered from management squabbles and posted losses each year.

- Southern Cross, the stricken care homes operator, has secured a lifeline from its bankers and has managed to extend its loan facilities on a £46 million debt until October to allow the sale of property assets to reduce debts. The announcement last month that the company was in breach of its banking covenants, after the property market downturn, left it unable to sell some property assets and sent the price of its shares into freefall.

Bedside manor

1993 Patientline founded
Nov 1996 Raises £6.3 million from Mercury Private Equity
Apr 1998 Derek Lewis, right, former head of the Prison Service, joins as chairman
Jan 1999 Mr Lewis becomes chief executive as well as chairman
Dec 1999 Patientline system given Millennium Product status by Tony Blair, then Prime Minister, and its products are displayed in the Millennium Dome
Mar 2001 Lists on AIM and is valued at about £100 million
May 2001 Jim Glover appointed chief executive. Mr Lewis stays on as chairman
Apr 2004 Company criticised when it emerges that its television monitors cannot be switched off by patients and are being left on for up to 15 hours
Jul 2005 An Ofcom investigation begins into the cost of calls to and from Patientline phones after it emerges that callers are paying up to 49p a minute to speak to patients
Jan 2006 Ofcom investigation does not demand action from the company but registers concerns about the level of charges for incoming calls
Apr 2006 Mr Lewis forced to step down after shareholders, led by Shore Capital, rebel
Jun 14, 2006 Shares plunge more than a third after full-year losses at the company more than double to £24.7 million. The terminals cost about £1,400 a bed to install and Patientline is footing the bill for the work in return for an NHS contract
Nov 2007 Nick Winks becomes chief executive

[richardbees] 26/7/2008 20:33

Scrib, at least you lost less on this than I did on tan, 'stop loss' doesn't work if the market opens lower than the stop loss price range!

[forallseasons] 26/7/2008 13:57

and the fact that mobile phones are now again gradually been allowed to be used in hospitals.

and the fact the you can now buy for around £80-00 to £100-00 mini tft tv's that even gets freeview channels.

so what's left for PTL to make money on ?

[scribbler101] 26/7/2008 13:13

It was PTL's fault if they did not secure a binding commitment to a critical part of their income stream.

[kenmill] 26/7/2008 12:53

As a brief investor some time ago at well over £1, I would remind everyone that PTL's demise is not really their fault. The whole premise in the early days was that the equipment would be used for NHS medical records so that consultants, doctors etc, when going round a ward, could access individual patient's records on the machines. The figures never stacked up for the millions of pounds spent on equipment if it was only ever going to be used for tele phone/vision.
The NHS did what most government run orgaisations do - they screwed up the implementation of a large computer software package which never worked. A few private hospitals used the PTL equipment for this purpose but it was never rolled out. From that moment, PTL was doomed. I am just surprised it lasted so long. A painful experience for everyone involved.

[scribbler101] 26/7/2008 12:21

No - it was a pure punt at a fraction of a p each that they would succeed with a d/e and leave a carrot for the shareholders. Looks like they are trying to maintain their contractual relationships with an overnight swap. NHS Trusts etc probably still could cancel their contracts, but probably not on the ball enough to do so.

Bad news for the patients, who needed an owner with nil equipment cost.

[richardbees] 26/7/2008 11:35

can't have comes as a surprise, scribble!

[scribbler101] 26/7/2008 10:45

Jockblue - LSE allows trade in suspended shares to clear shorts, settle errors, etc.

Incidentally I have lots if anyone wants them. I was speculating on a restructuring without administration.

[praipus] 25/7/2008 21:20

The people who most need this service are people like you and me but at a very unfortunate part of their tax paying life. I.e.elderly infirm, terminally or seriously ill. No sign of the government bailing PTL out.

Watch where the directors go because I cant help thinking they could have done a bit more a bit sooner realy poor show IMHO.

A group of wealthy types with money in Northern Rock bailed out no trouble.

You can see why the Scot's voted against one of their own, I personally would not vote for a Labour government again.

[momentos] 25/7/2008 20:59

Tim sherwood in grinning "trust me" mode for PTL customers and staff:



And in serious I'm-an-accountant-me mode for Redstone:



Never rated him after he left Blackburn myself....

[momentos] 25/7/2008 20:56

Kamitora, you deserve a medal. Good digging. What a stitch up!

So this wasn't material back in April?! I am not invested as it was clear long ago this was dead and there was no shareholder value left. So I suppose they will "get away" with it as they probably left the banks with a loss north of 50m after acquiring the equipment/operations. And of course they have first call before shareholders.

Just goes to show you shouldn't believe in Government bailouts, it was never coming.

Repost Kamitora:

(didn't take long to put that together with all Patientline's information!)

edit: this gets more interesting:

Companies House

Date of Incorporation: 30/04/2008

Name & Registered Office:
HOSPEDIA LIMITED
ONE FLEET PLACE
LONDON
EC4M 7WS
Company No. 06580998

From the Patientline website:

Patientline Business postal address
Patientline UK Ltd
Thames Valley Court
183/187 Bath Road
Slough
Berkshire
SL1 4AA

and from one of the Hospedia FAQs:



Hospedia Ltd
Thames Valley Court
183/187 Bath Road
Slough, Berkshire SL1 4AA

Tel: [phone]

I wonder how long this has been planned for?

[jockblue] 25/7/2008 16:11

praipus - with the stock suspended, obviously it cant be traded, but it does make me wonder how spreadbets and shorts are treated if a company goes bust....

[jockblue] 25/7/2008 16:10

pjh - those that worked for Patientline UK will all be taken onto the new business under TUPE rules. If there were employees who worked for other parts of the business, they will likely lose their jobs.

[praipus] 25/7/2008 16:01

Quite right jockblue hadnt noticed the most recent RNS. Any shorters looking to cover want some stock?

[pjh35] 25/7/2008 15:43

but what happens to the existing staff of perhaps the two companies?

[8trader] 25/7/2008 15:28

Good old Labour helping business's prosper !

rip

[jockblue] 25/7/2008 15:25

OK, here's how the real world works.

1. Company in deep do-do. Goes for talks with its bankers.
2. No way out for existing business.
3. New company established by DentonWilde Sapte - lawyers to the major banks in this country (and particularly HSBC to my memory) - who reside at 1 Fleet Place.
4. Deal structured to buy trading business from deadco on administration.
5. Deal worked with major creditors to take some/all of their debts on board as well to keep them onside.
6. Discuss with potential administrators the potential deal if company goes into administration.
7. All gets agreed. Deadco announces administrator
7 and 1 second. Administrator sells only trading subsid to newco (in this case Hospedia)
8. Hospedia sails off into the sunset with business unburdened by crippling debt.
9. Other creditors/staff/shareholders of parent company get nothing....praipus take note...they get nothing - it even said so in the RNS..Shareholders should note that no value will be attributable to ordinary shares following the sale of Patientline UK Limited

[praipus] 25/7/2008 14:51

It did only say temporary suspension.

[praipus] 25/7/2008 14:50

Reverse takeover perhaps?

[praipus] 25/7/2008 14:49

Very well found Kamitora.

Wonder what the plan is for us shareholders?

[kamitora] 25/7/2008 13:50

(didn't take long to put that together with all Patientline's information!)

edit: this gets more interesting:



Date of Incorporation: 30/04/2008

Name & Registered Office:
HOSPEDIA LIMITED
ONE FLEET PLACE
LONDON
EC4M 7WS
Company No. 06580998

From the :

Patientline Business postal address
Patientline UK Ltd
Thames Valley Court
183/187 Bath Road
Slough
Berkshire
SL1 4AA

and from one of the Hospedia FAQs:



Hospedia Ltd
Thames Valley Court
183/187 Bath Road
Slough, Berkshire SL1 4AA

Tel: [phone]

I wonder how long this has been planned for?