4SL
Databarracks has acquired 4sl for an undisclosed sum, to create a combined company with 75 staff, including 50 data protection experts.
Peter Groucutt, Managing Director of Databarracks comments:
“4sl is a company we have always admired for its expertise and skill in enterprise data protection. It is a globally recognised leader in delivering managed Commvault services, providing a gold standard of support to its customers. Getting to know Barnaby and the team, we have been impressed by how similar the cultures of our businesses are, and how much we have in common.”
Barnaby Mote, CEO and Founder of 4sl explains:
“This an exciting day for 4sl and Databarracks. We’re bringing together the two top data protection teams in the UK. This acquisition will bring benefits for customers of both Databarracks and 4sl. Databarracks is now the UK’s largest Commvault Managed Service Provider.”
Groucutt comments:
“Over the past twelve months we have been transforming our core services. We have migrated our customers’ backups and disaster recovery workloads from our data centres into Microsoft Azure, AWS and Google Cloud. We are now the largest Public Cloud Backup and Disaster Recovery specialist in the UK.
“With 4sl, we are adding enterprise capability and the ability to transform legacy tape environments. Together we are offering modern data protection to organisations in the UK and around the world. We have expertise across the leading backup, replication, storage and cloud technologies We are in a strong position and the business is poised for growth.
“In 2020, Business Continuity and IT Resilience were thrust into the spotlight. IT has proven to be the business-enabler through this incredibly difficult period. I think everyone now has a much greater respect for the importance of technology and our reliance upon it.
“Protecting data and keeping systems online are fundamental for all organisations. The growing cyber threat is driving organisations to revisit their resilience strategies to ensure they are protected and can recover from any incident. Backup and IT Disaster Recovery has never been more important.”
Haplo
RPL Mergers advises Haplo (UK) on its sale to market-leading cloud platform, Cayuse (USA).
RPL Mergers has advised the shareholders of Haplo, a leading research management solutions and SaaS provider in the UK, on their sale to Cayuse, based in the USA, for an undisclosed sum.
This acquisition comes on the heels of another year of growth that included the launch of the industry’s first purpose-built and cloud-native research platform. Supported by the recent investment by Primus Capital, Cayuse continues to pursue its mission to help research organizations worldwide advance their impact on science, discovery and society.
“We’re excited about the potential this combination of Haplo’s innovative researcher solutions and our end-to-end research suite brings to delivering long term value to the entire global research community.” said CEO Matt McLellan. “In addition, having a UK-based presence will enable us to continue to improve our service and support to our growing customer base in the middle east and southeast Asia, as well as for our US customers with global research teams.”
“For our Haplo customers, this merger of two great teams will allow us to provide world-class support and service while increasing their access to Cayuse’s full range of products and platform for research administration,” said Haplo co-founder Jennifer Summers. “We’re also thrilled to introduce our researcher-centric solutions to new markets where Cayuse is already the leader in electronic research administration systems.”
As research has become more global, this acquisition further enables Cayuse to be well positioned to support global collaboration and connectedness across the research ecosystem. Ultimately the beneficiaries are research teams at universities, hospital and health care organizations, pharmaceutical companies, and across government agencies who will be able to connect, collaborate and manage research operations via a single global platform regardless of geography, size or scale of their operations.
Timothy Buckeridge of RPL Mergers added:
“We were pleased to be able to work with Ben and Jennifer on the sale of Haplo to Cayuse, Haplo’s IP and higher education focus are key aspects of what drove this cross-border deal.”
Dan Sutherland, CEO of Carrenza, replied:
“We are delighted to be joining Six Degrees. The strategic fit is compelling and this is a logical development for both 6DG and Carrenza. Our heritage in the public sector, with complex private clouds and with public cloud integration is extremely strong and we believe our team can play a vital role in the continued growth of the group in the years ahead.”
Xicon Cloud
RPL Mergers advises Xicon Cloud on it’s sale to Beech Tree-backed BCN Group.
RPL Mergers has advised the shareholders of Xicon Cloud in their sale to BCN Group, the Manchester-based managed IT, cloud and digital transformation specialist, has acquired Xicon Cloud for an undisclosed sum.
The acquisition allows BCN Group to strengthen its best-in-class capabilities in managing and supporting business-critical applications in secure private cloud environments.
Warrington-based Xicon Cloud brings strong expertise and experience in public sector healthcare, being accredited to connect into and use the NHS’ Health and Social Care Network (HSCN), which complements BCN Group’s existing G-Cloud offering.
The acquisition allows BCN Group to strengthen its best-in-class capabilities in managing and supporting business-critical applications in secure private cloud environments.
The NHS HSCN provides reliable, efficient and flexible ways for health and care organisations to exchange electronic information.
Xicon Cloud was established in 1991 and has built a formidable reputation for delivering highly resilient and high performing cloud platforms for business and mission critical applications. Its accreditations to ISO 27001:2013, Cyber Essential Plus, and Information Governance demonstrates its high level commitment to customer data security.
The company has enjoyed strong organic growth in recent years and the acquisition will further boost BCN Group’s annuity contract revenue and margin.
The acquisition is the third in the past 18 months for BCN Group, which acquired Leeds-based Blue Logic in 2019 and Runcorn-based Polymorph in February 2020.
Simon Kelf, CEO of BCN Group, said:
“The acquisition of Xicon Cloud significantly strengthens our cloud product and service offering and provides a tremendous opportunity for BCN Group to further cement itself as a leading provider of cloud solutions.”“In addition, I have been very impressed by the skills and talents of the Xicon Cloud team, who will be a great addition to BCN Group. I am incredibly excited about the growth potential this acquisition has created and how it will allow us to extend the range of solutions we can offer our customers.”
Simon Heyes, CEO of Xicon Cloud said:
“This exciting opportunity will allow both organisations and our customers to benefit from the joint capabilities of a larger team and wider product portfolios.”
“I have been extremely impressed with the experience and aspirations of the entire BCN Group management team and the synergies between our organisations. We are looking forward to continuing to provide a great service to our customers both old and new.”
Marc Shaw of RPL Mergers added:
“We were pleased to be able to bring Xicon to market. There was a lot of interest in the business but Sue and Simon recognised BCN was a natural fit for them.
Arcus Cloud Services
RPL Mergers advises Arcus Global on sale of its AWS Managed Services subsidiary to Timico.
3 December 2020:
Leading cloud services provider to the public sector, Arcus Global Ltd, today announces the sale of its wholly-owned subsidiary, Arcus Cloud Services Ltd (ACS), to leading UK-based managed service provider, Timico Ltd.
The sale enables Arcus Global to concentrate on the accelerated growth of its platform-based suite of SaaS applications for Local and Central Government.
Proceeds from the sale will be invested in SaaS solutions R&D, software engineering and customer success programs. Ensuring Arcus Global remains at the forefront of GovTech solutions delivery, shaping public sector transformation. Our mission is to support organisations moving from ‘doing digital’ to ‘being digital’.
Nick Howes, CEO of Arcus Global said:
“With the recent investment into key personnel supporting the Arcus journey, the additional funds will allow us to drive further growth. We will extend our Government Platform, introducing new levels of automation and efficiency, providing more services and solutions that deliver the outcomes required by the public sector in a post-COVID, post-Brexit world.”
Timico CEO, Neil Muller, commented:
“This acquisition marks an exciting development in the continued evolution of our business and further strengthens the growing portfolio of our digital infrastructure services and solutions. The highly talented Arcus Cloud Services team has an excellent pedigree as an established and trusted AWS partner, and we are delighted to be adding their knowledge and professional capability to the Timico Group.”
Timothy Buckeridge of RPL Mergers, also commented:
“We have worked with the team at Arcus for some time and this sale was a great opportunity not only to give the AWS division the right environment to develop further but also to provide Arcus Global with additional capital with which to continue to expand its core SaaS business.”
Arcus Global Ltd was advised by RPL Mergers (Corporate Finance) and Mishcon De Reya (Legal) on this transaction.
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Net Consult
3 January 2019: TIG, the award-winning provider of IT transformation and Cloud services, has acquired netConsult, an IT consultancy focused on the financial services sector backed by investment from BGF. This forms part of a long-term strategy for developing service capability, sector expertise and scale.
The acquisition of netConsult enables TIG to enhance its financial service offering to its customers, while netConsult will benefit from TIG’s expertise in AI, data analytics and Machine Learning. The acquisition will double the size of TIG’s workforce to 90 staff. netConsult’s management, including co-founder and CEO Richard McDonald, will lead an expanded financial services team.
netConsult provides strategic technology consultancy to its global alternative investment clients. Growing substantially in recent years, its client base has assets under management of more than $100bn.
TIG provides cloud transformational services for a range of medium and large sized businesses. It is a Gold Microsoft Cloud and productivity partner, providing the full range of private, public and Hybrid cloud services.
The investment from BGF will be used to grow the business organically and through acquisition. BGF has backed nearly 70 technology businesses since 2011, including UKCloud, DevOpsGroup and Virtual1.
Des Lekerman, CEO of TIG, said:
“The acquisition of netConsult brings TIG deeper expertise in the financial services sector and comes with a best in class management and technical team. This will add further to our growth and service offering, and it represents another step towards our goal of becoming the UK’s best cloud services provider for medium sized UK businesses.
“Bringing BGF on board provides us with backing from an investor with substantial experience and success working with companies in our sector. Its minority approach means that we gain from its financial support and expertise but retain full control. We are very much looking forward to working with both teams in the months ahead to grow the business and take advantage of the exciting opportunities on the horizon.”
Richard McDonald at netConsult said:
“We’re delighted to be joining Des and his team at TIG. The fit between the companies is excellent and we now have the scale and support we need to grow as part of a full service provider.”
Mark Nunny, a BGF investor who joins the board of TIG, said:
“TIG stands out in its sector due to strong technical leadership and a customer-focused approach to cloud transition and service. A lot of mid-market corporates will need to move to the Cloud over the next five years and TIG is well placed to support them.
“There is significant opportunity for growth in the sector, and today’s acquisition of netConsult is a fantastic result for Des and the team and the first step in an ambitious growth plan which we’re excited to support.”
Arcus Global
It all begins with an idea.
RPL Mergers advises Arcus Global as it raises £3m Series A supported by YFM Equity Partners.
Funds advised and managed by YFM Equity Partners (“YFM”), the specialist private equity fund manager have backed a £3m investment into Arcus Global Limited (“Arcus”), a provider of cloud-based software solutions to local and national public sector organisations.
YFM’s investment comes from its two advised VCTs, British Smaller Companies VCT plc and British Smaller Companies VCT2 plc.
Founded in 2009 by Denis Kaminskiy (CEO) and Lars Malmqvist (CTO), Arcus has experienced rapid growth as a result of a shift towards cloud-based solutions for software and infrastructure requirements. Arcus has developed a proprietary Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform that enables Local Authorities and other Public Sector organisations to transform end to end service delivery in areas such as Digital Transactions, Planning, Building Control, Regulatory Services and Waste Management.
Arcus is also a specialist Public Sector Advanced Consulting Partner for Amazon Web Services and provides unique cloud hosting and managed services to a number of public sector bodies, using their expertise to deliver solutions that are resilient, secure, and cost effective. In the public sector space, the company is using the latest AWS services such as AI and Alexa Skills.
Arcus is based in Cambridge, where it employs over 100 staff, and expects to generate revenue in excess of £13m this year. Their client base includes over 30 UK Local Authorities such as Eastleigh Borough Council, Mid-Sussex District Council and Aylesbury Vale District Council. The infrastructure team serves over 100 Public and Private Sector clients, including Central Government, Universities and large businesses.
YFM’s funds will be used to support the continued growth of the business, building resource in technology development, sales and customer services. Together, this will enable Arcus to further expand its range of software solutions to help the public sector to increase its use of digital technologies and transform services.
Charlie Robinson and Andy Thomas led the investment for YFM. Charlie Robinson commented:
“Denis and his team have done a fantastic job in building the company and we are delighted to be working with Arcus to support their continued growth over the coming years. They have developed an enviable reputation for their innovative approach and we believe their solutions will fulfil an important role in helping public sector organisations drive efficiencies and to adapt to the changing digital landscape”
Denis Kaminskiy, co-founder of Arcus, added:
“I am incredibly pleased do have raised this growth investment from YFM. We ran a thorough and competitive process, and they have been a joy to work with so far. Of course, our exciting journey is just beginning, and I am looking forward to YFM’s expertise, advice and support. Our customers desperately need help, and this funding will allow us to improve and accelerate every part of our business.”
Marc Shaw, Principal, RPL Mergers, also added:
“Arcus and YFM are committed to a strategy of growth and development and we are confident that they will make excellent partners”.
YFM’s legal advice was provided by Chris Reed at Gateley plc, Commercial Due Diligence by Matt McNally of Armstrong TS, and Organisational Review by Anna Cornwallis of Stratton HR.
Marc Shaw of RPL Mergers acted as financial advisor to Arcus, and Allison Keyse of Mischon de Reya provided legal advice.
Arcus Global
RPL Mergers advises Arcus Global as it raises £3m Series A supported by YFM Equity Partners.
Funds advised and managed by YFM Equity Partners (“YFM”), the specialist private equity fund manager have backed a £3m investment into Arcus Global Limited (“Arcus”), a provider of cloud-based software solutions to local and national public sector organisations.
YFM’s investment comes from its two advised VCTs, British Smaller Companies VCT plc and British Smaller Companies VCT2 plc.
Founded in 2009 by Denis Kaminskiy (CEO) and Lars Malmqvist (CTO), Arcus has experienced rapid growth as a result of a shift towards cloud-based solutions for software and infrastructure requirements. Arcus has developed a proprietary Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform that enables Local Authorities and other Public Sector organisations to transform end to end service delivery in areas such as Digital Transactions, Planning, Building Control, Regulatory Services and Waste Management.
Arcus is also a specialist Public Sector Advanced Consulting Partner for Amazon Web Services and provides unique cloud hosting and managed services to a number of public sector bodies, using their expertise to deliver solutions that are resilient, secure, and cost effective. In the public sector space, the company is using the latest AWS services such as AI and Alexa Skills.
Arcus is based in Cambridge, where it employs over 100 staff, and expects to generate revenue in excess of £13m this year. Their client base includes over 30 UK Local Authorities such as Eastleigh Borough Council, Mid-Sussex District Council and Aylesbury Vale District Council. The infrastructure team serves over 100 Public and Private Sector clients, including Central Government, Universities and large businesses.
YFM’s funds will be used to support the continued growth of the business, building resource in technology development, sales and customer services. Together, this will enable Arcus to further expand its range of software solutions to help the public sector to increase its use of digital technologies and transform services.
Charlie Robinson and Andy Thomas led the investment for YFM. Charlie Robinson commented:
“Denis and his team have done a fantastic job in building the company and we are delighted to be working with Arcus to support their continued growth over the coming years. They have developed an enviable reputation for their innovative approach and we believe their solutions will fulfil an important role in helping public sector organisations drive efficiencies and to adapt to the changing digital landscape”
Denis Kaminskiy, co-founder of Arcus, added:
“I am incredibly pleased do have raised this growth investment from YFM. We ran a thorough and competitive process, and they have been a joy to work with so far. Of course, our exciting journey is just beginning, and I am looking forward to YFM’s expertise, advice and support. Our customers desperately need help, and this funding will allow us to improve and accelerate every part of our business.”
Marc Shaw, Principal, RPL Mergers, also added:
“Arcus and YFM are committed to a strategy of growth and development and we are confident that they will make excellent partners”.
YFM’s legal advice was provided by Chris Reed at Gateley plc, Commercial Due Diligence by Matt McNally of Armstrong TS, and Organisational Review by Anna Cornwallis of Stratton HR.
Marc Shaw of RPL Mergers acted as financial advisor to Arcus, and Allison Keyse of Mischon de Reya provided legal advice.
Venus
It all begins with an idea.
RPL Mergers Advises Venus Business Communications On Its Sale To, Manchester Based, Metronet UK.
RPL Mergers has acted as the exclusive financial advisor to the shareholders of Venus Business Communications on its sale to Manchester based wireless network provider, Metronet UK, a portfolio holding of Livingbridge Private Equity.
Venus is one of the UK leading providers of ethernet networks, and was recently included in the Deloitte’s Fast 500™ (EMEA). The deal gives Metronet a London footprint and allows Venus to expand its product set. Venus’ Directors, Justin Keery and Brian Iddon, will remain with the enlarged business to support Metronet’s ambitious plans for continued growth.
This is the seventh disposal RPL Mergers have advised on in the last 12 months. Commenting on the transaction Tim Buckeridge, Partner, at RPL stated:
“Demand for connectivity continues to grow in line with the increased adoption of cloud based applications. We very much enjoyed working with Brian and Justin, and were delighted to bring our experience of disposals to help them achieve their goals.“
Justin Keery, Founder of Venus, commented:
“RPL were fully committed to Venus, they not only delivered exceptional value for shareholders but they also supported us continuously through every stage of the transaction from preparing information through to completion.”
About RPL Mergers
RPL Mergers is a specialist technology M&A firm formed in 2004 to advise owner-operators on exits, disposals and earn-outs. We help clients to achieve maximum value and work with them through every stage of the process.
Enquiries
For enquiries please contact: enquiries@rplmergers.com
Carrenza
It all begins with an idea.
Six Degrees Group Acquires Cloud Service Provider Carrenza to expand public cloud integration capabilities.
Six Degrees Group (6DG) has today announced it has acquired cloud service provider Carrenza, further strengthening its position in both private and public cloud markets. Carrenza is experiencing rapid growth in providing cloud services to corporate customers and government bodies, with increasing demand for integration solutions for the public cloud, three sectors that are strategically important for Six Degrees.
Carrenza is a provider of Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS) cloud services for hosting mission-critical applications and websites for customers spanning public, private and third sectors. Private sector customers include RBS, de Bijenkorf and Majestic Wine. A strong third sector presence includes household names like WWF and AgeUK. They are an OFFICIAL security certified G-Cloud provider and an expanding public sector base includes Government Digital Service (GDS), DWP and HMRC.
Founded in 2001, Carrenza became one of the early adopters of enterprise cloud computing with the launch of Carrenza Cloud in 2006. In addition to its own IaaS and PaaS capabilities, they are also public cloud integration experts with key partnerships supporting customers using Amazon Web Services (AWS), VMWare’s vCloud Air and Google Cloud Platform (GCP).
Alastair Mills, CEO of 6DG, commented:
“This announcement ticks three major strategic boxes for Six Degrees. Firstly, it strengthens our capabilities for professional and managed services in application and web hosting for mission-critical environments. Secondly, it gives us a major presence in the public sector where Carrenza is a strong G-Cloud player. Finally, it brings public cloud integration capabilities that, especially for AWS, are increasingly part of the mix for end-user customers in an increasingly multi-cloud world.”
Dan Sutherland, CEO of Carrenza, replied:
“We are delighted to be joining Six Degrees. The strategic fit is compelling and this is a logical development for both 6DG and Carrenza. Our heritage in the public sector, with complex private clouds and with public cloud integration is extremely strong and we believe our team can play a vital role in the continued growth of the group in the years ahead.”
About Six Degrees Group
Six Degrees Group (6DG) is a converged technology infrastructure provider that is transforming the managed services landscape. 6DG has invested in its own data centres, cloud platforms, next generation data network and voice switching capability, and leverages these core assets to develop, manage and support its unique portfolio of solutions. The company is committed to delivering exceptional customer service and has recently achieved the prestigious ‘Silver Investors in People’ accreditation.
For more information, visit www.6dg.co.uk
About Carrenza
Carrenza is a cloud services provider that believes technology should make businesses better. We blend IaaS and PaaS capabilities to transform how our customers and partners consume and deliver applications. We are proud to count Cineworld, Royal Bank of Scotland and Government Digital Service amongst the organisations who rely on us to deliver their business-critical applications.
For further information go to: www.carrenza.com. Please direct any press enquires to: press@carrenza.com
City Lifeline
Acquisition of City Lifeline.
Redcentric plc (AIM:RCN), a leading UK IT managed services provider, is pleased to announce the acquisition of City Lifeline Limited (“City Lifeline”) for a total consideration of £4.8 million, paid in cash on completion and subject to adjustment for cash, debt and normal working capital.
City Lifeline owns and operates one of the best connected datacentres in London, and has been trading for over 20 years. Its site in Tech City provides a secure, reliable location from which its customers operate business critical infrastructure. In the year to 31 December 2015 City Lifeline generated revenue of £3.5 million, all recurring, and EBITDA of £0.6 million.
The acquisition of City Lifeline represents another step in Redcentric’s growth strategy, providing a well-established London datacentre to complement its existing infrastructure of owned datacentres in Harrogate, Reading and Cambridge together with its national fibre network.
As well as continuing to support City Lifeline’s existing customers, the London datacentre will provide Redcentric with significant expansion capacity. The acquisition is expected to be immediately earnings enhancing.
Fraser Fisher, Chief Executive Officer of Redcentric, commented;
“City Lifeline is a great addition to our network of datacentres, something we’ve been seeking in London for a while. This is a low risk move, earnings enhancing from day one and is a further step in the Redcentric growth strategy”.
United Hosting
Cloud company iomart (AIM: IOM) has made its second acquisition of 2015, acquiring the managed hosting company United Communications Limited which trades as “United Hosting.”
iomart has acquired the entire issued share capital (on a cash-free/debt-free normalised working capital basis) for a total consideration of up to £11.0 million, with £7.5 million settled in cash on completion. A further £3.5 million is contingent on United Hosting achieving agreed EBIT performance targets in years to April 2016 and 2017.
United Hosting was founded in 1998 and provides managed, dedicated and shared hosting services and domains to approximately 6,500 customers, the majority of which are small businesses. The company is based in Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire, where its main data centre facility is located. It also leases data centre space in London and in Dallas, Texas and has a support function based in India.
Angus MacSween, CEO of iomart, said:
“In line with previous acquisitions made by iomart, United Hosting is a profitable, growing business whose services reflect those we offer. As such, the business fits well within our acquisition criteria and will be a valuable addition to the Group.”
The co-founders of United Hosting, brothers Matt and Simon Wallis, will remain with the business.
Matt Wallis, Director of United Hosting, said:
“This is a huge opportunity to develop and grow the business. We are now backed by one of the leading providers of managed hosting and cloud services in the UK as well as a company with all the regulatory and financial strength that comes with being listed on the London Stock Exchange. Having met with Angus and his executive team we believe they can take us to the next level of success.”
This is the second acquisition of the year for iomart. In June, the Group acquired SystemsUp, an IT consultancy specialising in the design and delivery of Public Cloud solutions.
For the full statement made to the London Stock Exchange click here
iomart will announce its interim results on Wednesday 2nd December 2015.
ServerSpace
Glasgow-based cloud computing firm iomart announced it has acquired ServerSpace, a rival cloud service provider, for £4.25m. The move comes as the company reported a revenue increase of almost 28 per cent in its consolidated half yearly results for the period ending 30 September.
ServerSpace, founded in 2006, provides VMware and Citrix-based cloud and managed hosting as well as colocation and networking services. The company was acquired by iomart earlier this month for a maximum cash consideration of £4.25m.
“Having the weight of an impressive parent company like iomart behind us will help us win bigger deals and I’m excited at the opportunities that lie ahead,” said Tim Pat Dufficy, managing director and founder of ServerSpace.
The move comes on the heels of a big expansion effort at iomart, which recently set up datacentre and infrastructure operations on the east and west coasts of the US. The company is among a handful of smaller cloud service providers consolidating around the UK mid-market; others include UKFast and Claranet.
The company reported revenue growth of 28 per cent to £31.5m for the half ending September 30 this year, an increase over the $24.6m in revenue reported for the first half of this year.
“We have demonstrated a further strong performance as we continue to benefit from last year’s acquisitions of Redstation and Backup Technology, and we have made a good start to the second half of the year,” said iomart chief executive officer Angus MacSween.
“The market opportunity remains large and long term and, in a fast moving and ever evolving industry we have the skills and experience to continue to perform well. Our focus going forward is on continuing to deepen our relationships with the large Tier 1 vendors and their growing trust in our abilities gives me confidence for iomart’ s prospects in the years ahead,” MacSween said.
Foreshore
Sure (Jersey) Limited is delighted to announce that it has completed the acquisition of Foreshore, the pioneering data centre and cloud services provider based in Jersey.
The acquisition of Foreshore provides Sure with a data centre in Jersey to complement its own successful data centre offering in Guernsey and will help to strengthen Sure Jersey’s enterprise portfolio by providing both on-island data centre hosting and a range of leading, innovative cloud services to support its customers both locally and internationally.
“The acquisition of Foreshore is an important element of Sure’s programme of investment in the Channel Islands, which this year will also see Sure investing in a new 4G network,” said Graham Hughes, CEO of Sure Jersey.
“This acquisition is great news for Sure customers and businesses across the Channel Islands as Sure now has data centre capabilities in Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Combining these facilities with our local knowledge and international expertise, means that Sure is set to become a leader in offshore data hosting and cloud services.
I would like to thank Chris Evans, former CEO and co-founder of Foreshore for the incredible work that he and his colleagues have done in building Foreshore into a leading data centre and cloud services provider that is recognised not only in Jersey but also internationally, as a key supplier to the international finance industry. Foreshore is a Jersey success story and everyone at Sure is excited about the prospect of building on that success to take the business even further.
We now begin the task of integrating Foreshore fully into Sure and we will work with all existing clients to advise them of the change of ownership and to confirm that Foreshore will continue to operate the same services to the high standards that they have come to expect.
We will also consult fully with all staff in Foreshore and Sure to help them understand the vision we have to create the strongest data hosting and managed services offering in the Channel Islands’ marketplace.”
Redstation
iomart Group plc (AIM: IOM), the UK’s leading cloud company, has today (5 September 2013) completed the acquisition of Redstation, a provider of dedicated servers and managed services, for a maximum consideration of £8 million (US$12.4 million).
£6.6m has been paid as an initial consideration, of which £5.1m has been paid in cash and £1.5m satisfied by the issue of 515,464 new ordinary shares. A further contingent consideration of up to £1.5m is potentially payable in cash subject to Redstation achieving certain profit targets in the period to end March 2014.
Redstation owns and operates two data centres and offices in Gosport, Hampshire and provides a range of hosting services to around 3000 customers. Turnover in the twelve months to 31 June 2013 was £5.2 million.
iomart Group already owns RapidSwitch, another leading provider of dedicated servers in the UK, whose data centre in Maidenhead is currently being extended to provide space for additional servers to pre-empt future demand for data storage. The acquisition of Redstation means iomart now manages approximately 20,000 servers on behalf of customers of every size and in every major market sector in its 10 fully owned and managed data centres across the UK.
Angus MacSween, CEO of iomart Group plc, said:
”The addition of Redstation will consolidate our position as the leading player in the dedicated server market in the UK. Redstation’s customers deliver a wide variety of cloud applications and services so this acquisition further underpins iomart’s position as the main provider of the complex infrastructure required by UK businesses to support the cloud environment.”
Redstation was founded 15 years ago by Lance Taylor and since 2008 he has run the company in conjunction with business partner Peter Appleton.
Peter Appleton, co-owner of Redstation, said:
“I’m excited that Redstation is becoming part of iomart because we’ve been on the same journey. We’ve both built great reputations for excellence in hosting by investing substantial amounts of money to create the best data centres and network facilities backed by the best technical support. The combination of Redstation and iomart Group will be a powerful force in the market.”
Redstation has 33 employees. Earlier this year it became the first UK customer to sign up to a new high capacity network from Virgin Media offering customers data speeds of up to 100Gbps.
Martin Groom, Managing Director of Redstation, said:
“Redstation has grown to the point where we need to move to the next level, so becoming part of the leading cloud company in the UK makes perfect sense. As part of the wider iomart Group we will have access to greater resources and technical innovation and will be able to offer an even wider range of cloud services to our ever growing customer base.”
Melbourne Server Hosting
iomart Group plc, the cloud computing company, is pleased to announce the acquisition of the entire issued share capital of Melbourne for a maximum cash consideration of up to £7.0 million.
Melbourne is a Manchester based provider of managed hosting solutions to over 600 customers. Melbourne operates its own datacentres in Manchester, providing iomart with additional datacentre capacity. As well as the addition of spare capacity, this fills a geographical gap in the iomart datacentre estate and provides a sales platform to address the North of England market.
Melbourne’s turnover in the year to 31 December 2011 was £2.9 million with an EBITDA of £0.63 million and net assets of £0.26 million. At completion, Melbourne is expected to have a net debt position of £0.17 million. Melbourne has delivered strong revenue growth, with December 2011 turnover around £0.9 million higher than December 2010 before adjusting for associated company trading. The acquisition is expected to be immediately earnings enhancing before acquisition costs and normal acquisition adjustments, including any fair value adjustments and the amortisation of intangible assets.
Of the total consideration of £7.0 million, £6.5 million has been paid at completion, with two deferred amounts of £0.25 million due; one contingent on the successful integration of the operations of Melbourne into the Group; and the other contingent on the amount of net debt and working capital of Melbourne at completion. The acquisition will be financed jointly from the Company’s cash resources and through a drawdown of £5.0 million from the Company’s bank loan facility.
In addition the Company has recently acquired a small web hosting business called Skymarket Limited, for a maximum consideration of £1.24 million on a debt free, cash free and fully funded working capital basis. In the year to December 2011 Skymarket Limited had revenues of £1.0 million.
Angus MacSween, Chief Executive stated:
“We are delighted to complement our continued organic growth by acquiring profit enhancing businesses. iomart has been looking for some time to acquire a quality managed hosting operation in the North of England to extend our UK coverage and Melbourne fits the bill perfectly, adding a strong customer list and additional datacentre capacity. We are also pleased to have welcomed Skymarket into the Group last month.”