Shareholders in IT services group Calyx have voted in favour of a management buyout of the company led by chief executive Maurice Healy.

The acquisition is being made through a vehicle called Stornoway which includes Mr Healy and other senior Calyx management, backed by private equity group Alchemy Partners.

The deal values Calyx at £70.2 million (€103.6 million). Calyx shareholders will receive 101p per share, a premium of almost 24 per cent on the price on March 12th, the last day before the offer proposal was announced.

Mr Healy owns 19.3 million shares or just under 28 per cent of the company. As part of the buyout, he will swap 13.5 million Calyx shares for his Stornoway stake, and get cash for the remainder.

He will hold 30.9 per cent of Stornoway. Alchemy Investment Plan will control another 59.2 per cent, with the remainder of the shares being held by Calyx senior management.

These include chief financial officer Peter Jenkins; Gerard Coakley, managing director of the Irish business; Andrew Mills, managing director of Calyx UK, and Jack Cunnane, group business improvement director.

Following the acceptance of the deal at an extraordinary general meeting yesterday, the company will now delist from London's Alternative Investment Market (AIM) and Dublin's IEX market. The last day of trading of Calyx shares on AIM and IEX will be July 20th.

It is the second time that Mr Healy has been involved in an MBO at the company. Calyx was formed in 2001 when Mr Healy led a management buyout of electronic payments group Alphyra's Irish voice and data businesses.

Since then the company has expanded rapidly in Ireland and Britain. It has completed a series of acquisitions, including the purchase of two divisions of the Matrix group in Britain last June.