*UKHotviewsExtra* A new era for Civica

Earlier this month, Blackstone completed its acquisition of Civica from Partners Group, providing the company with the resources to pursue its goal of becoming a global GovTech champion (see Blackstone completes Civica acquisition).

Recently published accounts show Civica is entering this new era in its 22-year history in good shape. For the year ended 30 September 2023, Group turnover was up 7.2% to £511.0m (2022: £476.5m); however, revenue from its core software divisions (a better indicator of Civica's prospects) increased by an impressive 16.2% to £463.7m (2022: £398.9m). On a proforma basis (taking into account acquisitions and exchange rates), software revenue was up 10% to £431m (2022: £393m).

For the software business, net revenue was up 15.7% to £420.2m (2022: £363.3m), EBITDAE was up 16.0% to £130.8m (2022: £112.8m), and EBITDAE as a % of net revenue was 31.1% (2022: 31.0%). On a proforma basis, UK and Ireland (UKI) software revenue was up 10% to £319m (2022: £289m), representing 74% of total proforma software revenue for the year.

Under Blackstone's ownership, we do not expect to see any radical departure from Civica's strategy of recent years, but it will have a more customer-centric approach. At the heart of the business is its vision of becoming a global GovTech champion, and this feeds into its mission, which it defines as, "we make software that delivers critical services to citizens around the world". It will also stick to its core markets of local government, health, education, and central government, where there remains significant white space for Civica to target.

There remains significant opportunity for international growth, and we expect to see Civica's activities outside of the UK accelerate under the new ownership. The Group has completed more than 35 acquisitions in the last 10 years, and M&A will remain a strategic focus in 2024 and beyond.

Working in partnership with Blackstone, we expect the company to build on its existing public sector foundations in the UK, Australia and New Zealand (and somewhat smaller foundations in North America) to scale into a global (rather than 'multi-local') GovTech business serving citizens internationally.

TechMarketView subscribers, including UKHotViews Premium subscribers, can learn more about this new era for Civica in our expanded UKHotViewsExtra article here.

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Posted by Dale Peters at '08:25' - Tagged: results   software   digital   public+sector   govtech