17 Nov 2004

The Capita Group Plc (“Capita”) announces the acquisition of the entire share capital of Brownsword Ltd, a leading provider of claims investigation services, for a cash consideration of £5 million. Capita will also be assuming £3.5 million of debt. As part of the deal, Capita will gain an exclusive ten year license to use Digilog’s* Advanced Validation Solutions (AVS) incorporating Voice Risk Analysis (VRA) software in outsourced solutions for the insurance industry.

Brownsword provides a variety of services in a number of insurance market sectors including motor claims, household and travel claims. The acquisition will add further expertise and capacity to these existing service offerings within Capita Insurance Services and, by deploying Digilog’s AVS, will further enhance the existing end to end policy and claims service.

Via Brownsword, Digilog’s AVS has so far been piloted by 15 insurance related companies on an outsourced basis. Of those who piloted the solution, 80% have entered into an arrangement with Brownsword, recognising the significant benefits of using AVS as an information validation process and Brownsword as a service supplier. By analysing micro-changes in the voice, the VRA software is used to assess risk in responses to questions and provide an initial indication as to whether the information provided is valid or could be potentially fraudulent. If the information supplied is valid, customers’ requests can be acted upon faster and more efficiently.

Lee Gladwell, Capita Insurance Services’ Business Development Director, commented, “We are excited to have completed the acquisition. Brownsword is a successful market leader and recognised expert in its field. The addition of Brownsword’s services will strengthen our overall insurance proposition giving us an unrivalled offering in fraud management and claims validation, and will complement our already significant motor capability. We are continuously seeking ways to develop our offering to clients to provide innovative end to end operational solutions. In particular, this acquisition will help our clients to combat the increasing levels of fraud our industry is facing.”

David Brownsword, Managing Director, Brownsword Ltd commented, “Brownsword has achieved significant growth throughout its history and to ensure that this success is maintained, I am delighted that Brownsword will become part of Capita. With the support of Capita, I have every confidence that the core business of Brownsword together with its VRA empowered process from Digilog, will continue to go from strength to strength.”

* Digilog have intellectual property rights for Voice Risk Analysis software in UK and Ireland as licensed by Nemesysco Ltd.