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Serco Buys QinetiQ’s US Arm for $292m

Serco has agreed to buy QinetiQ's US defence business for $292m in cash, while QinetiQ plans to return £200m to shareholders and focus on UK, European NATO and allied markets.

Serco (LON: SRP) has agreed to buy QinetiQ’s US business for $292m in cash. QinetiQ (LON: QQ.), the UK defence and security engineering group, will use the sale to focus on UK, European NATO and allied markets and return £200m to shareholders.

Both companies announced the deal before the London open today. QinetiQ shares were up 5.2% at 550p at 8.09am, against 523p at yesterday’s close. Serco, the outsourcer, was up 1.5% at 290.2p at 8.07am. Both are delayed early-trading quotes.

QQ.LSE

Serco pays $237m for the operating business plus $55m for an acquired tax asset. The sale follows the strategic review QinetiQ began in May.

Term Detail
Total cash $292m (£218m)
Operating business $237m
Tax asset $55m
Serco’s 2027 expectation About $370m revenue, $21m underlying operating profit
Implied multiple 9.9x including synergies
Completion Expected Q1 2027

For Serco, the business lifts North American revenue by over 15% to about $2.5bn and deepens its work for the US Space Force. It is funded from cash and debt facilities, adds about 0.6x to leverage (net debt as a multiple of earnings) and is expected to add to earnings per share from 2028.

QinetiQ’s chief executive explained why it is selling. Steve Wadey, Group Chief Executive Officer, said:

The US market has changed and, despite improvements to the business, we do not have the scale to meet our growth and returns expectations relative to the rest of our portfolio.

Steve Wadey, QinetiQ

QinetiQ books a c.£175m non-cash impairment, a write-down of the US business’s book value. After completion it plans to add £100m a year to its buybacks in each of FY28 and FY29.

Even after today’s rise, QinetiQ shares are below their level of the 10th of August, while Serco’s are higher.

Line chart of Serco and QinetiQ shares rebased to 100, with Serco above its starting level and QinetiQ below it before both rose on the deal news
Serco and QinetiQ shares rebased to 100 on 10 August 2026; both rose on 12 November’s news of Serco’s deal for QinetiQ’s US business (the 12 November point is an early-trading quote).

Completion is subject to US antitrust, foreign-investment and classified-activity approvals. QinetiQ reported half-year results alongside the deal and left its full-year guidance unchanged, as did Serco.

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