Electric Business

Complete Imaging, a managed print and document technology services company, has been acquired by Capita. The deal will see Complete join the managed print services division of Capita Document & Information Services.

initiate Consulting, a provider of professional services to the rail, aviation and highways sectors, has been acquired by Driver Group. As part of the deal, former Conservative MP and London mayoral candidate Steve Norris joins the Driver Group board as a non-executive director.

esure, an online provider of home, travel, pet and car insurance, has acquired the price comparison website Gocompare.com. esure was already a 50% shareholder, and has bought the remaining 50% for £95m. The deal will see Gocompare.com founder and chief executive Hayley Parsons leave the company.

Living Bridge, the private equity firm previously known as ISIS Equity Partners, has completed a £20m secondary buyout of the software company Kirona Solutions.

Sky has sold Sky Betting & Gaming to the private equity firm CVC Capital Partners. The £800m deal includes the sports betting business Sky Bet, the casino gaming businesses Sky Vegas and Sky Casino, the online poker room operator Sky Poker and the online bingo operator Sky Bingo. The odds comparison site Oddschecker is also included in the acquisition. Sky will continue to hold a 20% stake in Sky Bet.

The Dutch-based Waard Group, which consists pf three insurance companies and a servicing company, has been acquired by Chesnara. The £55.1m deal is part of Chesnara’s strategy of buying life and pensions businesses in the UK and Western Europe. Chesnara is a holding company which owns life insurance companies such as Protection Life Company and Countrywide Assured.

George Osborne has announced a 25% Diverted Profits Tax to be levied on multinationals who use ‘artificial’ arrangements to divert profits from their UK economic activity overseas in order to avoid paying UK tax. The tax is aimed at companies such as Google, Starbucks and Amazon and will be introduced in April 2015. Banks are also in the Chancellor’s firing line and from April 2015 they will only be able to offset 50% of previous years’ losses against current year profits. Other changes announced in the Coalition’s final Autumn Statement include an increase in the business rates discount for

Aviva, the UK’s largest insurance company, has agreed to buy Friends Life for £5.6bn. The deal will strengthen Aviva’s position in corporate pensions with assets of £39bn. Aviva Investors will take on approximately £70bn of Friends Life’s UK assets. Friends Life was formed in 2011 through the merger of Friends Provident and AXA.

The private equity firm Vista has acquired Advanced Computer Software (ACS) for £725m. ACS is a provider of software and IT services to the primary care sector.

The oil and gas exploration company Ophir Energy has acquired Salamander Energy in a deal worth £314m. The deal gives Ophir access to established operations in South East Asia, where Salamander has operating licenses in Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia.