Major outsourcer Capita has acquired cloud consultancy Trustmarque from its current owner for £57 million.
Trustmarque offers a variety of services, such as software resale, licensing, business intelligence, workforce productivity and resource planning, as well as its cloud consultancy offering, all of which it groups under the term "enterprise-as-a-service".
The company serves both the private and public sectors, with one of its biggest clients being the NHS. It also has a significant presence in the accounting and legal sectors.
Liberata Group bought Trustmarque in late 2014, and Capita will only pay Liberata's owner, Ardbid, £57 million, which TechMarketView analyst John O'Brien pointed out was less than a third of Trustmarque's £192 million 2015 financial revenue.
O'Brien said: "Trustmarque continues to be a good growth business - revenues have grown consistently over the past few years from £131 million in FY [20]12 to just shy of £200 million today."
Trustmarque also has the notable achievement of being Microsoft's most accredited UK partner - something which Andy Parker, Capita's chief executive, hopes will strengthen his own company's relationship with the Redmond giant.
"This acquisition provides Capita with a set of capabilities and expertise that complement our existing businesses ... [and] Trustmarque's 'Enterprise-as-a-Service' model will provide a number of opportunities to build new services and deepen our existing relationships with key partners, in particular with Microsoft," said Parker.
"It will particularly enhance our growing Capita Technology Solutions business, expanding its ability to offer innovative services to current and potential clients," Parker added, highlighting Trustmarque's software asset management and strategic cloud consultancy specialities in particular.
O'Brien also focused on the strength of Trustmarque's relationship with Microsoft, stating it sells more than £100 million of licenses annually into the public sector and has an increasing focus on Microsoft cloud solutions related to Office 365 and Azure.
"The acquisition therefore fits neatly with Capita's tried and trusted strategy to acquire partners who they know well," he said. "It's really not that long ago since Trustmarque became part of Liberata Group ... [and] the focus for the past two years has been steadying the business and returning it to financial health - the benefits of which now look certain to be felt by new owner Capita."
