In-demand G4S hails ‘strong’ last quarter as takeover deadlines loom February 9, 2021 Security firm G4S this morning hailed a “strong” fourth quarter as the bidding war for the outsourcer approached its conclusion. The FTSE 250 firm said that it had achieved an “exceptional commercial performance” in the final period, with new and retained contracts worth £5.5bn. In a trading update, G4S said its cash flow benefited from Covid-19 payroll [...]
Ferrovial in new attempt to offload Amey February 2, 2021 Spanish infrastructure firm Ferrovial has getting ready for a second attempt at a sale of outsourcing firm Amey. Sky News reported that the firm had appointed Morgan Stanley to run the sale, which comes two years after a prior attempt to sell the services group. The company is one of the UK’s biggest outsourcing firms, [...]
Mitie raises full year guidance as Interserve deal beds in January 28, 2021 Outsourcer Mitie today raised its guidance for the full year due to an improved performance in the second half and its merger with Interserve. The FTSE 250 company said that full year revenue would now come in at £2.4-£2.5bn, with profit up to £57m-£61m. Shares in the firm rose 3.1 per cent as markets opened [...]
Government launches legal action against former Carillion directors January 14, 2021 Ministers have launched legal action against eight former directors of collapsed outsourcing giant Carillion, a move that could see them banned from serving as directors for up to 15 years. Nearly three years after the firm went bust, business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has brought proceedings against the former chairman, two chief executives, two finance chiefs, [...]
Mitie profit slips a third ahead of Interserve merger November 19, 2020 Outsourcer Mitie said that profit had fallen over a third in the first half of the year due to a loss of revenue from high margin contracts impacted by coronavirus. Profit at the London-listed firm slipped 35 per cent from £33m to £21.5m, with revenue also declining 9.8 per cent to £972m. As a result, [...]
Carillion ‘recklessly’ misled markets before collapse, says UK watchdog November 13, 2020 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has today announced that it intends to take further action against failed outsourcer Carillion for “misleading” shareholders with false information. In a warning notice published today the watchdog said that a number of senior executives were “knowingly concerned” in numerous breaches of market rules, and had acted “recklessly”. These include [...]
G4S and Gardaworld trade blows as takeover spat continues November 12, 2020 G4S and Gardaworld have exchanged fresh blows as a long-running spat over a potential hostile takeover of the British security firm drags on. This morning the Canadian firm, which has been trying to engineer the purchase of G4S for months, said that North American regulators had cleared the way for the merger to go ahead. [...]
Mitie shares bump as firm cuts price of Interserve deal by £80m November 4, 2020 Mitie has reduced the terms of its acquisition of outsourcing rival Interserve’s facilities management arm by over £80m, the firm announced this morning. When the deal was announced back in June, it was set to cost Mitie £271m, but the firm will now issue 110m fewer shares to finance the deal. As a result, it [...]
Mitie-Interserve deal to face competition probe September 15, 2020 The UK’s competition watchdog today announced that it was launching an investigation into whether Mitie’s acquisition of fellow outsourcing giant Interserve’s facilities management business could damage competition. Back in June Mitie signed a £271m deal with its rival for the division, which will create a giant new entity with more than 80,000 employees. The move [...]
Capita extends £355m deal to manage congestion charge August 10, 2020 Outsourcing giant Capita today announced that it had extended three contracts with Transport for London (TfL) in a deal worth £355m. Under the contracts, Capita will continue to run London’s Congestion Charge, Low Emission Zone (LEZ) and Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) until October 2026. Shares in the firm rose three per cent this morning [...]