Acquisition

NCC Group PLC
01 August 2007

1 August 2007

NCC Group plc

Web testing capabilities double with £4.0m acquisition


NCC Group plc (LSE: NCC, 'NCC Group' or 'the Group'), the international,
independent provider of Escrow Solutions, Assurance Testing and Consultancy, has
acquired SecureTest Limited ('SecureTest'), an ethical security testing company,
for a maximum consideration of up to £4.0m in cash.

This second earnings enhancing acquisition in the web security and testing area
will substantially strengthen the Group's position in this fast growing sector.

SecureTest specialises in the provision of consultant-led security testing
services, including penetration testing of networks, systems and hardware,
social engineering testing of the human aspect of organisational information
security and testing of organisations' compliance with the payment card industry
data security standards (PCI DSS). Its acquisition will almost double the
Group's capabilities in web security testing.

The initial payable on completion is £2.5m, with a further performance related
payment of up to £1.5m.  The latter is expected to be paid in October 2008. In
the year ended 30 June 2007 SecureTest generated revenue of £2.2m and earnings
before interest and tax of £0.25m. NCC Group expects that the business should
contribute over £0.4m of profits on over £3m of revenue for its first 12 months
of NCC Group ownership, before any investment. The business is net working
capital positive on acquisition.

SecureTest, which was established in 2002, is based in Thame, Oxfordshire and
employs 34 people, including 18 testers. It has a client base of over 300
across all sectors of the market with particular experience in local and central
government as well as the finance and service sectors. Its clients include a
number of blue chip businesses which will join the growing list of NCC Group
customers, including BAA, Orange, Flybe and Sage.

The operation will be managed autonomously within the Group's Assurance Testing
Division. It will develop close links with the rest of the Group, in particular
the Performance and Load Testing business and Consultancy Division. The policy
of not supplying products or non-testing services complements NCC Group's
independent status and position as a 'trusted advisor' to its clients.  The
company will trade as 'SecureTest, an NCC Group company.'

The SecureTest management team is staying with the business and NCC Group look
forward to benefiting from their technical and market experience.



Rob Cotton, NCC Group Chief Executive, said:



'This earnings enhancing acquisition is another important complementary
development for our Assurance Testing Division as the whole area of web security
and associated testing is growing rapidly.

'The combination of our original ethical hacking business with Site Confidence,
our load testing business, acquired in January this year plus now SecureTest,
provide the Group with a largest and comprehensive range of capabilities and
expertise.'





Enquiries:


NCC Group  (www.nccgroup.com)                                      0161 209 5200
    Rob Cotton, Chief Executive
    Paul Edwards, Group Finance Director

College Hill
    Adrian Duffield/Corinna Dorward                                020 7457 2020





                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange