Support services group Mouchel Parkman has entered the business process outsourcing market after buying Hyder Business Services (HBS). The acquired company was sold by private equity firm Terra Firma for £46.2 million.

Support services group Mouchel Parkman has entered the business process outsourcing market after buying Hyder Business Services (HBS). The acquired company was sold by private equity firm Terra Firma for £46.2 million.

The deal was funded wholly by debt, with the Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds TSB providing £125 million for the acquisition and for working capital.

HBS director Alan Rylett will continue to lead the business, which now operates as a division within Mouchel Parkman.

The acquired company, which also has an IT services operation, was purchased as part of Mouchel Parkman’s strategy to become the UK’s leading provider of professional services to the public sector. The two companies had worked together before on joint venture projects.

Based in Milton Keynes, HBS was formed in 1999 following the privatisation of Welsh Water and was acquired by Terra Firma a year later.

The company’s clients include Lincolnshire County Council, Milton Keynes Council and Bath and North-East Somerset Council. In the year to April, HBS made a pre-tax loss of £2.6 million from a turnover of £124.1 million.