Social housing specialist Mears Group PLC (LON:MER) has been handed contracts worth £1bn from the UK government.
It’s a sizeable deal for a company with market capitalisation of less than £400mln.
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As part of the contract, Mears will be responsible for the upkeep of thousands of homes occupied by asylum seekers waiting for their claims to be processed.
The deal is for ten years and covers homes in Scotland, Northern Ireland and the North East, Yorkshire and the Humber.
“We are delighted to have secured these contracts having already allocated significant time and resources to this,” said chief executive David Miles.
“We will immediately start work on the mobilisation so that we are ready to meet the needs of asylum seekers and their host communities.”
The new Asylum Accommodation and Support Services Contracts (AASCs) are replacing the current COMPASS contracts, which were awarded back in 2012
Fellow outsourcer Serco Group PLC (LON:SRP) has also been awarded AASCs worth £1.9bn, which will see it look after asylum housing in the North West of England and the Midlands & East of England.
Mears shares jumped 5.3% to 357p on the back of the news.