Peter Jones, entrepreneur and star of Dragon's Den, has sold Wireless Logic to ECI Partners, the UK mid-market private equity firm, for £38 million. Wireless Logic is a leading independent Machine to Machine (M2M) communications specialist with 3,600 customers and nearly 600,000 SIMS under management in the UK and continental Europe.
ECI is one of the longest established private equity groups in the UK and has total committed capital of over £1.1billion.
ECI has a strong track record of backing growth companies in the Technology, Software & IT Services sector, including Fourth Hospitality, CarTrawler, XLN Telecom, Ascribe, Clinisys, ClarityBlue, GK Communications, Language Line, MM Group, NCC, OSI and Guardian iT.
This is ECI's sixth new investment in eleven months (the others being Stewart Group, CarTrawler, Fourth Hospitality Reed & Mackay and XLN) with total enterprise value of c.£320 million and equity invested by ECI of £170 million.
Wireless Logic offers M2M communication solutions to customers by connecting embedded sensing devices in their machines (eg vehicles) via SIM-based technology. The company partners with all the major mobile networks including Vodafone, Orange and O2.
The capability of SIM enabled machines to transmit and receive information instantaneously improves efficiency, reduces costs and improves response times. Applications include vehicle tracking, smart metering, home and business security and intelligent health monitoring. Wireless Logic's technology and services are integral to the continued growth of the 'Internet of Things' which refers to the increasing number of devices that are Internet enabled.
Vehicle tracking was one of the first industry sectors to develop on the back of M2M technology and significant growth remains in this market, with only 20% of commercial vehicles currently tracked. Rapid growth is also forecast in other sectors, such as smart utility metering, healthcare and security, and new applications are being developed every day such as wireless advertising and PDQ machines in taxis.
The M2M market is forecast to experience rapid growth of more than 30% per annum and Wireless Logic is well positioned to benefit from this expansion. The company was ranked 25th in the Sunday Times? Tech Track 2010 league table of the UK?s fastest-growing private technology companies.
Wireless Logic was formed in 1999 by the current Managing Director, Oliver Tucker, and Sales Director, Philip Cole - both experienced operators in the telecoms and technology industries. Peter Jones CBE, a major technology investor, acquired the business in 2002 as he believed that the M2M market had potential in the years to follow.
Chris Warren, Director of ECI, commented: "The possible applications for M2M technology are virtually limitless and we are excited by the potential of Wireless Logic in this rapidly growing market. We are looking forward to working with the management team and assisting the company in its continuing expansion and market development."
Jones CBE added: "Wireless Logic is the UK's leader in M2M networks and has grown significantly in a fairly short time frame since I made the decision to acquire the business in 2002. I have thoroughly enjoyed helping Philip and Oliver to grow the business in that time and I will be watching with interest how the business develops further with the support and backing of ECI."
Tucker noted: "We moved quickly to secure a commanding market position in this exciting and rapidly developing M2M market and have created a business model that adds value to our clients and that creates attractive recurring revenues. We look forward to building on our market position with continual development in our software platform and increasing our service and value-adds to our channel customers."