Serco, the struggling outsourcing group, is on the rise on talk of interest in its Indian division.
The company issued four profit warnings last year, announced plans for a £550 cash call on shareholders, and said it would continue to sell off non-core businesses.
Now its shares have climbed 6.4p to 162.7p following a report in the Times of India that four private equity groups - Apax, Carlyle, Baring Asia and Everstone Capital - were interested in a $500m offer for Serco’s Indian business process outsourcing division.
A year ago the company’s shares were changing hands at more than 500p each, but it has been rocked by the profit warnings, as well as scandals including overcharging the UK taxpayer for a prisoner tagging contract. It has also been criticised for the way it runds Australia’s migrant detention centres.
