Buyout corporations circle £400m NCC division Escode

A pack of personal fairness corporations are circling one of many major subsidiaries of NCC Group, the London-listed cybersecurity specialist.

Sky Information has learnt that Montagu Non-public Fairness and Bridgepoint are among the many buyout corporations that are concerned with bidding for Escode, which specialises in software program escrow and verification companies.

Metropolis sources stated a deal for Escode may very well be value between £300m and £400m, whereas NCC Group’s total market capitalisation on Monday afternoon was simply over £440m.

A number of different non-public fairness corporations are additionally stated to have an interest, though a proper public sale will not be underway and the identities of the opposite events was unclear.

The buyout corporations’ curiosity in Escode follows a string of opinions by NCC about potential disposals.

In January 2024, the group stated its board had “determined to not restart the strategic overview of Escode at this juncture”, whereas different elements of the corporate have additionally been the topic of exploratory discussions with doable consumers.

NCC employs about 2,200 individuals throughout Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific.

It introduced on Monday that it had signed a £120m mortgage facility with a syndicate of banks comprising Barclays, HSBC, NatWest and Santander UK.

NCC, Montagu and Bridgepoint all declined to remark.