Capita has bought out its embedded software fulfilment partner, Trustmarque Solutions for £57m. Trustmarque’s core business is software resale, licensing and technology services and it 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 licenses each year.
Key specialities include software asset management and strategic cloud consultancy. Other central service offers include business intelligence, workforce productivity and resourcing. The Company serves over 1450 private and public sector clients and employs 620 employees based in five offices in York, Coventry, Sheffield, Edinburgh and London.
Trustmarque reported revenue of £191.9m, net revenue of £107.0m, underlying EBITDA of £7.3m and underlying operating profit of £4.3m in its last financial year to 31 December 2015. Gross assets were reported as £80.0m at 31 December 2015. 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% in 2018.
Trustmarque has a notable public sector presence in the NHS and in the private sector in accounting and legal services. It is also a Microsoft Cloud Solutions Provider and is Microsoft’s biggest partner in the UK for public sector cloud. The business is targeting strong growth in strategic cloud consultancy and has identified a £5bn addressable UK market for these cloud services, including Office365 and Azure.
Andy Parker, Capita’s Chief Executive said: “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.
“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.”