Capita plc (‘Capita’) today announces that it has agreed to sell its travel and events businesses Agiito and Evolvi to Clarity Travel Ltd (‘Clarity’) for an enterprise value of £36.5m on a cash free, debt free basis. Taking into account the working capital and debt liabilities that Clarity is assuming as part of the transaction, Capita expects to receive cash proceeds of £16m, of which £8m is payable on completion and £8m is payable 12 months following completion.
The senior management teams and employees will remain with their businesses as they transfer to Clarity, the business travel and events division of the Portman Travel Group Ltd (‘Portman’).
The reported revenue and profit before tax of the combined businesses for the year to 31 December 2022 were £31m and £4m respectively, and gross assets were £76m at 30 June 2023.
The sale to Clarity is subject to National Security and Investment Act approval.
The agreement to sell these Capita businesses follows the completion of the divestment of our Software, Enforcement and PageOne businesses in July. The sale also marks the penultimate transaction before the completion of Capita’s non-core disposals programme.
The proceeds, net of transaction costs, will be used to further strengthen the balance sheet and reduce debt.
Jon Lewis, Capita’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “We are pleased to have agreed the sale of our travel and events businesses to Clarity, following a competitive sale process.
“The transaction offers significant growth opportunities for the businesses, their clients and colleagues.
“It also marks another significant step towards reducing Capita’s debt, as we continue to simplify and strengthen the organisation, and become a more successful business for the long term.”
For more information, please contact:
Media enquiries
Capita external communications
Tel: 0207 654 2399
Email: media@capita.co.uk
About Capita plc
Capita is a leading provider of business process services, driven by data, technology and people. We are a purpose-led, responsible organisation¬. Every day our 50,000 colleagues help millions of people, by delivering innovative, digitally enabled solutions to transform and simplify the connections between government and citizens, businesses and customers. We partner with our clients and provide the insight and technologies that give time back, allowing them to focus on what they do best and making people’s lives easier and simpler. We operate across three divisions – Capita Public Service, Capita Experience and Capita Portfolio – in the UK, Europe, India and South Africa. Capita is quoted on the London Stock Exchange (CPI.L).
About the travel businesses
Agiito is an award-winning UK travel, meetings and events management intermediary with its roots going back 50 years, supported by well recognised brands. Agiito serves a diverse set of enterprise, mid-size and small-capitalisation customers in the private and public sectors - the majority with a UK-centric buying profile.
Evolvi is a specialist B2B rail ticket issuing platform provider.
About Clarity
Clarity, the Business Travel and Events division of Portman Travel Group is headquartered in Manchester with over 400 employees, servicing a wide variety of clients across sectors including Legal & Professional Services, Retail, Infrastructure, Construction, Marine, Charity, Academia and Public Sector.
About The Portman Travel Group
The Portman Travel Group is a UK based portfolio of travel businesses. It has three core divisions, Business Travel, Sports Travel and Luxury Leisure Travel with a number of businesses operating in each division: The key brands are Clarity for Business Travel & Events, Destination Sports Group for Sports Travel, and Elegant Resorts and IfOnly for Luxury Leisure Travel. The Group has over 750 employees.
