The private equity firm which owns a controlling stake in Asda is closing in on a £275m deal to buy a division of the listed cybersecurity company NCC Group. Sky News has learnt that TDR Capital is in late-stage talks to buy Escode, which has been the subject of acquisition talks since last summer. Banking sources said a deal between TDR and NCC for Escode, which specializes in software escrow and verification services, could be struck in the early part of this week. TDR is said to have seen off competition from a string of rival suitors, with other buyout firms which showed interest in Escode said to have included Cap10, Platinum Equity, and Montague Private Equity. If completed, the deal would leave NCC as a pure-play cybersecurity service company, with a repositioning of the remaining unit towards higher value, recurring revenue streams.
NCC has said that if the sale of Escode goes ahead, it would consider a significant return of capital to shareholders, beyond a previously announced initial share buyback program. Last summer, Sky News revealed that NCC had also appointed advisors to explore a sale of the cybersecurity business. NCC employs about 2,200 people across Europe, North America, and Asia-Pacific. On Friday, its shares closed at 139.8p, giving it a market capitalization of about £440m. NCC and TDR declined to comment.
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