UK's Capita in exclusive talks with PE firm Montagu for ESS sale

(Reuters) - British outsourcer Capita Plc said on Friday it was in exclusive talks with private equity firm Montagu over the potential sale of its standalone Education Software Solutions (ESS) business.

The company, which has been trying to sell some non-core assets, had expected to get at least 500 million pounds ($668.25 million) for the education software business, whose platform SIMS is used by 21,000 schools in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Last month, Bloomberg News reported the outsourcing firm received lower-than-expected bids for the education software unit.

Capita in June said it would sell its legal process software product Eclipse Legal Systems to Access UK Ltd, while seeking to offload the ESS unit.

The divestments come as part of a broader strategic review of the software division by Capita.

Britain's outsourcing industry had been forced to cut costs and shrink operations even before the COVID-19 pandemic, hit by a wave of cutbacks exacerbated by the country's decision to leave the European Union.

($1 = 0.7482 pounds)

(Reporting by Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)