NCC Group plc has decided against a sale of its remaining cybersecurity business.
The Manchester firm said the sale of its Escode business for £262.8 million cash completed at the end of May and will allow it to focus on cybersecurity.
It says that arm of the business will remain as a listed entity.
It follows two other non-core exits for NCC – Fox-IT DetACT and Fox-IT Crypto – which completed in April 2024 and March 2025 respectively.
NCC also reported its latest half-year results, which included the Escode business. For the six months to 31st March 2026, revenue increased by 5% to £151.3m, with cyber revenue increasing by 5.9% to £118.4m, driven by 12.5 % growth in the UK and APAC. Escode revenue increased by 1.9% to £32.9m.
Group adjusted EBITDA increased by 27.7% to £23.5m compared with £18.4m in H1 2025. Cyber (including central and head office costs) increased by 130.6% to £8.3m while Escode increased by 2.7% to £15.2m.
The board now intends to commence a £170m tender offer followed by a new £15m share buy-back subject to due process to create sufficient distributable reserves through a capital reduction.
“The business has completed a period of significant strategic and operational change and now operates as a focused, pure-play cyber security and resilience business,” NCC stated this morning.
“While the board remains mindful of the prevailing macros-economic environment, it believes the business is appropriately positioned for its next phase of development.
“The board has concluded its strategic review of the cyber business, which considered all options including a potential sale of the company, and has determined that remaining a listed company is in the best interests of shareholders at this time.
“The company is not in receipt of any approaches or in discussions with any party in relation to a potential sale of the company.”
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