‘Seamless transition’ for clients says new owner of Capita Asset Services
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Local authorities using Capita Asset Services for their treasury advice can expect a seamless transition, according to new owner Australian firm Link Group.
A deal for the sale of the division by parent company Capita for £888m was agreed last week.
The deal is expected to complete in the fourth quarter of this year, and the new owner said that clients should not notice much difference.
A statement from Link Group provided to Room151 said: “We expect it will be very much business as usual for the CAS business, including client relationships.
“Day-to-day operations will be undertaken by the existing management team. Our aim is to retain key personnel and knowledge.”
The statement said that in the longer term, Link Group would look to introduce its own product and service innovations to CAS.
Commenting on the transaction, Andy Parker, chief executive of Capita, said: “We have achieved an attractive price and the reduction in leverage is significant and ensures that Capita can fully focus on the pursuit of what it does best: continuing to deliver outstanding services to our clients and their customers.”
Link Group provides shareholder management and fund administration services to more than 2,500 clients.
Other firms already linked to the possible purchase of Capita’s treasury advice arm included Chicago-based private equity fund GTCR, European rival CVC Capital Partners and European buyout fund BC Partners.
CAS has its roots in the treasury advisors Butlers which was acquired by Capita in 2011 to become Sector Treasury Services. In 2013 Sector was absorbed into CAS.
Further consolidation in the market took place in 2013 when the Office of Fair Trading cleared the merger between treasury consultancy firms Arlingclose and Sterling Consultancy Services
CAS offers a number of services to local government including an investment advisory service, investment benchmarking, debt and capital financing advisory and a creditworthiness service.
Capita’s 2015 annual report shows that CAS reported underlying revenues of £403.9m last year, up on £332.5m in 2014. Capita’s total revenue was £4.6bn.
Revenues for the CAS division local government treasury are not broken down in the report.
