Capita acquires police HR specialists Cedar

Capita acquires police HR specialists Cedar                

The Capita Group Plc announces today that it has acquired Cedar HR Software Limited (`Cedar') for £15m on a debt free, cash free basis. Cedar, part of the Advanced Computer Software Group, is a leading provider of human resource management software to UK policing.

Alongside Capita's acquisition of SunGard Public Sector last year and Beat Systems Ltd earlier this year, the acquisition brings new market opportunities to Capita, particularly in the area of outsourced services to police authorities. Cedar already provides software to 30 of the UK's 53 forces and its largest clients include Greater Manchester, North Yorkshire and Thames Valley police.

The company made a pro forma operating profit for its financial year to 28 February 2011 of £2.0m on turnover of £6.2m.

Commenting on the deal, Andy Parker, joint chief operating officer of the Capita Group said: "This acquisition adds both innovation and breadth to our solutions for police forces. It will allow us to offer a full, end to end, back office solution integrating payroll, rostering and scheduling, finance and procurement; in essence a platform for transformation in what is an important new market for Capita. Given the challenges the sector faces, we believe our offering will provide police forces with real opportunities to drive down costs, improve services to citizens and accelerate their transformational journey."

Cedar, which will become part of Capita's secure information services business, has around 45 employees, mainly based in Cambridgeshire.