Northgate Public Services has been sold by Cinven Private Equity to NEC Corporation for £475 million. Northgate’s customers include around 200 housing providers and 95 per cent of UK local authorities.
NEC’s biometric scanning and facial recognition products will be integrated into some of Northgate’s core software platforms. NEC’s global network will also enable Northgate to provide solutions and services into wider geographies such as North America, Asia Pacific and other regions.
Stephen Callaghan, CEO, Northgate Public Services, said, “Our colleagues and leadership team have worked incredibly hard over the past two years to get the company into great shape operationally and financially, with the result that Northgate is a highly attractive asset to NEC.
“I’d like to stress that we see this as simply the beginning of our next phase of development. The increased financial strength, technical capability and market access NEC provides will allow us to accelerate our growth plans considerably.”
NEC said that Northgate’s existing management team will remain in their roles following the acquisition and that it had no plans for any job cuts or redundancies.
Roger Birkinshaw, housing director, Northgate Public Services, said, “The deal with NEC will allow us to combine our expertise to create game-changing innovations for our housing customers. NEC’s experience in citizen access and smart cities in particular may enable us to offer an exciting new roadmap for housing technology in the UK and beyond. The acquisition is a tremendous opportunity for us.”
