Catalyst advises on Expotel sale to Capita

THE Birmingham office of Catalyst Corporate Finance advised shareholders of corporate travel business Expotel and Phoenix Equity Partners on its sale to outsourcing giant Capita plc for £16m.

Stockport-based Expotel provides accommodation, travel booking and event management services to both corporate and public sector clients across the UK.

The business books around one million hotel rooms per annum on behalf of clients and across all services makes around £170m of reservations. 

Once combined with London-based Capita’s business, BSI, the group will employ nearly 900 staff across ten locations.

Catalyst said that following an initial review of the Expotel business it became clear that BSI was the most likely strategic acquirer for the business, giving the combined business access to a number of operational synergies and greater scale, both of which are increasingly important in this market as buyers seek more and more efficiencies in their travel spend.

Richard Sanders, the partner at Catalyst who led the transaction, said: “This transaction reinforces our credentials in the support services market, a sector in which we have completed many transactions in recent years. 

“This is also the second disposal we have handled for this management team, following the sale of FirstAssist in 2010. We anticipate further activity in this area in the coming months.”