UXC moves back to its core

IT services provider UXC has today started divesting several non-core business units in order to simplify its core business and rebuild value in the company.

(For Sale sign image by Ian Muttoo, CC BY-SA 2.0)

The company told shareholders at its annual general meeting last November that it planned to divest the environmental and retail solutions arms of the business, which the board determined were "non-core assets".

UXC cited lacklustre performance figures as one of the primary reasons for letting go of the two business arms.

"It has been determined that these businesses are not part of the strategy going forward and their performance does not meet UXC criteria, thus UXC will divest these operations," the company said in a shareholder announcement today.

The company's environmental business arm, UXC Field Solutions Group, presently provides water, energy and utility services to government and enterprise businesses around the world. Its retail business was inherited from acquired core businesses, which had ancillary retail arms.

"Taking this action goes a long way to de-risking our second-half results and we are confident in being able to rebuild value on the strength of our core businesses," said Cris Nicolli, managing director of UXC.

Nicolli added that the company may write down the sale value of the divestment assets to the tune of approximately $7 million; however, the managing director added that the write-downs are "a fraction of the losses contributed by these businesses in the previous year".

The divestment comes after UXC made the decision last October to continue as an independent company instead of selling off the whole of its business to private equity firms.