Analyst: $850M opportunity for Allscripts with merger

The companies held a joint investor meeting Tuesday, after which analyst Sean W. Wieland said he believes a key reason for the merger is access to Misys Healthcare's 110,000 physician customers.

"We like the customer list that Misys offers Allscripts for cross selling opportunities," Wieland wrote. "By our analysis, this customer base offers an $850 million target market to sell Allscripts solutions to Misys customers."

Wieland has a "Buy" rating and $18 price target on Allscripts shares.

In March, the companies said Misys would acquire 54.5 percent of Chicago-based Allscripts for $330 million, or $4.90 per share, and merge its Misys Healthcare unit with the company. The deal to create Allscripts-Misys Healthcare Solutions Inc. is expected to close in the third quarter of this year, creating a market leader in the $5 billion U.S. electronic health record market.

JPMorgan analyst Atif Rahim had a more muted view of the meeting, noting that there already is significant product overlap between the two companies.

"The Misys deal stands to significantly lower Allscripts' growth profile, which we believe is reflected in stock at this time," he wrote.

Rahim has a "Neutral" rating on shares.

Allscripts shares rose 19 cents to $12.41 Thursday.