Capita sells majority stake in crop testing business for £60m

OUTSOURCING firm Capita has sold its 75% stake in crop testing joint venture Fera for £60 million.

Private equity firm Bridgepoint will buy Fera, which was founded in 2015 and is 25% owned by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

With the deal complete, Capita says it has now sold off all its “noncore assets”, allowing it to cut down its debt pile and focus on its outsourcing business. The firm’s CEO Jon Lewis said: “Fera is now a vibrant and profitable commercial business, successfully serving private sector and government customers in both the UK and overseas.”

Capita shares rose by 0.5p, or 2.7%, to 20.5p. They’re still down 18.5% for the year.