Acquisition

Capita Group PLC 20 June 2002 20 June 2002 THE CAPITA GROUP PLC Capita further extends HR Service offering to include staff absence and cost management services £18.6 million acquisition of Wynchgate Group Businesses The Capita Group Plc ('Capita') has further expanded its HR Service offering by acquiring three businesses from the Wynchgate Group ('Wynchgate'). The businesses specialise in providing absence and related cost management services for essential staff, primarily across the education sector and increasingly the health sector. Capita has acquired three of four businesses comprising the Wynchgate Group for an initial consideration of £18.6 million. The purchase consideration is to be satisfied by the payment of £10.3 million cash, the issue of 1,315,101 new ordinary shares in Capita ('the consideration shares') and £4.0 million of loan notes. An additional deferred maximum payment of £8.0 million dependent on future performance is payable in March 2005. The businesses achieved a proforma profit of £1.4 million on turnover of £17.1 million in the year to 31st December 2001 and have experienced strong growth in the current year. The businesses transfer with assets of £0.1 million and this acquisition will be earnings enhancing in the current year. The core business trades under the name BEST and is the UK's leading provider of staff absence and associated cost management services to the state education sector, typically through three year contracts. BEST's client base includes 42 LEAs and over 2,000 schools and a growing number of not-for-profit health organisations. BEST utilises an innovative IT solution which assists with monitoring and managing staff absenteeism across essential services, in order to increase attendance and to reduce overall costs of absenteeism. The monthly absence data submitted to BEST is encrypted and provides a valuable information data bank that allows meaningful analysis of insurance claims against risk data. Using this data, BEST acts as an informed intermediary between employers and insurance companies to manage down associated costs of absenteeism. Rod Aldridge, Executive Chairman of the Capita Group Plc, said: 'The acquisition of BEST naturally complements our broad HR service offering and adds further value to the support services solutions we offer to the education and health markets. There is considerable scope for us to grow the BEST business by introducing their services to Capita's wider education client base of 156 LEAs and 23,000 schools and by assisting BEST to enter new market segments across the wider public and private sectors, where staff cover must be maintained to run essential services within limited budgets.' The consideration shares will be issued and credited as fully paid and will rank pari passu in all respects with Capita's existing ordinary shares. Application has been made to the UK Listing Authority and the London Stock Exchange for these shares to be admitted to the Official List and dealings are expected to commence on 26th June 2002. - Ends - For further information: The Capita Group Plc 020 7799 1525 Rod Aldridge, Executive Chairman Paul Pindar, Chief Executive Shona Nichols, Group Marketing Director Capita Press Office 020 7544 3141 Issued by Finsbury Group 020 7251 3801 Morgan Bone Mark Harris Notes to editors: The Capita Group Plc is a leading provider of integrated professional support services solutions. The Group's service capabilities encompass customer services, insurance services, human resource services, software services, systems and strategic support and property services delivered to both public sector and private organisations. With 16,000 people at over 160 UK sites, Capita is quoted on the London Stock Exchange and is a FTSE 100 company with estimated revenues for 2002 of £895 million. In November 2001 Capita was awarded the Management Today Most Admired Business Services Company Award. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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Capita (CPI)
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