London’s Capita sells government joint venture Axelos for £380m
London-headquartered outsourcing firm Capita has sold its UK government joint venture Axelos for £380m, as Capita looks on track for growth for the first time in six years.
Shares rocketed 6.03 per cent in this morning trading, taking its share price to 39.91p per share.
The joint venture, set up by the firm with the government in 2013, will rake in around £183.6m for Capita.
“Capita and Cabinet Office have partnered together to grow the business over the last eight years, creating significant value for us and the taxpayer,” Capita CEO Jon Lewis said.
Axelos, a solutions company, has been sold to assessment and certification firm PeopleCert.
Capita announced its intention to sell its stake in Axelos earlier this year, as part of its strategy to strengthen the firm, Lewis continued
It comes as the firm sold its education software company ESS in February – as Capita eyes selling more of its other non-core businesses.
Despite Covid-19, the firm looks on track for growth this year, which the firm said would be the first time in six years, in its market update this morning.
Capita has also bagged hefty contracts this year with the Royal Navy Training, worth £925m, the extension of a European telecoms client valued at £528m and another £58m contract for Tesco Mobile.
The firm has rallied its cash collection amid the pandemic, saying this morning that its liquidity remains strong at £689m on 17 June, ahead of the scheduled repayment of around £160m of private placement notes in July.
“I’m pleased with the progress that we have made so far this year. We remain on track to meet our priorities for 2021: to deliver revenue growth for the first time in six years, improve operating cash flow, strengthen the balance sheet, and implement our new organisational structure,” the CEO said in the firm’s market update this morning.