NEC Aims for UK Government Sector with NPS Acquisition

“NEC aims to combine NPS’s technologies with its own AI and biometric solutions to develop systems that will allow British police to detect suspicious activity and individuals…”

NEC is aiming to extend its reach in the UK government sector with its acquisition of Northgate Public Services Limited (NPS), an British services company.

In a statement announcing the acquisition, NEC said NPS employs about 1,400 software engineers across the UK and India, developing solutions mainly for the British public sector. The acquisition is aimed at exploiting opportunities arising from the UK government’s “promotion of a digital strategy focused on administrative service improvement and cost reduction through visualization of administrative costs and bringing services online,” NEC said.

NEC aims to combine NPS’s technologies with its own AI and biometric solutions to develop systems that will allow British police to detect suspicious activity and individuals, and for biometric identification; the acquisition will also see NPS’s public housing management and police operations solutions offered in markets beyond the UK.

NEC is paying £475 million for NPS, and is purchasing the company from Cinven, a private equity firm. The deal is expected to close by the end of this month.

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January 15, 2018 – by Alex Perala