IT company the Capita Group has paid £21m for UK independent agent Harry Weeks Travel and Leisure.
Under the deal it will also pay a further £12m over the next four years "subject to the business achieving certain performance targets".
The deal gives Capita Harry Weeks' award winning rail booking software, Evolvi and Travelpackonline which have been adopted widely by small independents in the UK.
All 70 employees of Harry Weeks, which is based in Kent, will join Capita.
It is Capita's second foray into travel. In 2005, it acquired another UK independent Lonsdale Travel which had a turnover in 2005 of £106m.
Capita, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange and had revenues for 2005 of £1,436m, provides software services and support as well as financial services.
It clients include the UK government and the Mayor of London.
Paul Pindar, Capita's ceo, said: "This acquisition provides us with an exciting new proposition in the rail travel market.
"Last year we identified travel management as an area of major spend where we can add value to our public and private sector clients by offering effective solutions and outsourced services.
"With our growing portfolio of travel management services, we believe this will be an interesting market for us going forward."
Capita said that the UK business travel market was worth £6.8bn a year of which 16% was rail travel. But this was growing at 3.5% to 5.5% a year. Business travel on rail was expected to grow even faster.
Harry Weeks' un-audited accounts for the year ended 31 October 2006 recorded net profit before tax of £500,000 on turnover of £3.6m. As at 31 October 2006 Harry Weeks had un-audited net assets of £700,000.
Grahame Weeks, managing director of Harry Weeks, said: "Both companies have a strong heritage and we are confident that as a combined entity we will continue to drive the growth of the business and add value to our clients."
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