Outsourcing firm Capita have bought Trustmarque Solutions for £57m from rival company Liberata.
Trustmarque’s core business is software resale, licensing and technology services. It also offers software asset management and strategic cloud consultancy as well as business intelligence, workforce productivity and resourcing.
The company serves around 1,450 private and public sector clients and employs 620 employees based in five offices in York, Coventry, Sheffield, Edinburgh and London. It has a large presence in the NHS and is Microsoft’s most accredited UK partner, holding 14 Gold Partner competencies, and is the largest Microsoft public sector licensing specialist in the UK, providing over £100m of licences each year.
Trustmarque was bought by Liberata back in September 2014. It was ultimately owned by Ardbid.
Trustmarque reported revenue of £191.9m and underlying operating profits of £4.3m in its last financial year to 31 December 2015. Gross assets were reported as £80m.
Post-acquisition, with benefits from cross-selling, cost savings and market growth, Trustmarque is expected to achieve Capita’s target post-tax return on investment of 15 percent in 2018, according to Capita.
“This acquisition provides Capita with a set of capabilities and expertise that complement our existing businesses – and the mix of core reseller activity and higher value services is a strong proposition that will sit well with our wider technology offering. 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,” says Andy Parker, Capita chief executive.
“It will particularly enhance our growing Capita Technology Solutions business, expanding its ability to offer innovative services to current and potential clients. Specific specialities, such as software asset management and strategic cloud consultancy, have strong synergies with Capita’s existing propositions,” he adds.
Scott Haddow, chief executive of Trustmarque, says the firm would be positioned for strong organic growth, supported by Capita’s impressive expertise, experience and scale.
“There are a number of opportunities for integration – including our success selling services through G-Cloud – that will help us to lower costs and cross-sell services to customers,” he adds.
