Following Serco's update last month, in which it confirmed FY12 is on track (see Serco FY12 in line), the BPO and support services gianthas provided a bit more colour on recent developments.
Serco said it had booked a non-cash accounting loss of £25m on the two recent disposals of Serco Learning, its UK education software business to ACS (see ACS acquires Serco Learning), and its UK data hosting operations. Both operations had become non-core to the business and apparently had experienced significant changes in market conditions. We know from the ACS deal that it paid £6.25m cash for Serco Learning. But Serco actually received a total of £6m in cash for the two disposals. So it must have had to pay cash to dispose of the hosting operation.
Serco also completed the purchase of DMS Maritime, the Australian maritime services provider, which manages, operates and maintains over 600 vessels in the Asia-Pacific region. Serco paid £82m in cash and shares for DMS, comprising £69m in cash and £13m in debt.
This shift in emphasis from small, local capability in the UK, to large and international in scope, is part of Serco’s ambition to become a global support service and BPO player. Disposing of operations which are better suited to the local players (like ACS) makes sense, even if they come at a price.