London—Dentons has advised Capita plc (‘Capita’), a leading provider of business process services, driven by data, technology and people, on the sale of its 75% stake in Fera Science Limited (‘Fera’) to Bridgepoint Group plc, for an enterprise value of £60 million on a cash-free, debt-free basis.
The sale will provide additional liquidity to further strengthen Capita’s balance sheet and support investment.
Fera was established in 2015 as a joint venture between Capita (75%) and Defra (25%) to create a financially sustainable business, focused on the agriculture, farming and food production market. It specialises in environmental testing, research, and advisory and assurance services for both the public and private sectors.
Neil Nicholson, head of UK Corporate at Dentons said, “Having acted for Capita on a number of its non-core disposals from its portfolio division, we’re very pleased to have supported the Capita team on this final sale which marks the successful end of the non-core disposal programme.”
The multi-practice Dentons team advising Capita was led by Neil Nicholson and Corporate partner Michael Snook with support from Corporate senior associate Verity Kent, Corporate associate Arjun Mehta, Real Estate partner John Arey, Real Estate senior associate Dominic Fagan, Tax counsel Alastair MacLeod, TMT senior associate Tom Winstanley, IP senior associate Jennifer Cass, PRM partner Eleanor Hart, PRM counsel Caroline Curran, Competition partner Adrian Magnus and Competition senior associate Megan Penny.
