Comms Dealer

GCI has secured a £50m acquisition fund facilitated via the Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC in a deal led by GCI's CFO Mark Allen and brokered with the support of KPMG.

Allen commented: "GCI has come a long way over the last nine months. At the start of the year we took a long hard look at our operation, and our marketplace, and set about finessing an organisation that has been 16 years in the making.

"In terms of strategy, we are focusing GCI's Services and Solutions around the need to support an increasingly mobile workforce, the need to enable and support digital transformation and collaboration, the need for increasingly sophisticated security and compliance solutions, and the need to support the 'rise and rise' of the omni-channel and diverse communications platforms.

"This £50m fund will help us robustly address those customer challenges and will help take GCI to the next level."

Adrian Thirkill, CEO, added: "Our investments to date have already positioned GCI as a leading player in Unified Communications with more than 60 Microsoft Certified Professionals within our 300 strong organisation.

"We are already making very good use of the additional funding now available to us and will continue to invest in our capabilities around Office 365, Skype for Business, Azure, Cloud PBX and our growing PCI Compliance Services."

KPMG's Zoe Clarke added: "This transaction will help GCI to take forward its growth ambitions by allowing it to take advantage of acquisition growth opportunities as the business looks to build-out and add capabilities."

Dan Salt, Regional Head for the Midlands and West, Royal Bank of Scotland Corporate Transactions, added: "We are demonstrating our confidence in this sector by backing a strong management team with a clear focus on what they want to achieve."

HSBC's Area Corporate Director Roger Pratt commented: "GCI's executive management have a clear strategic plan for the next five years, and we look forward to supporting GCI during this exciting period."

Exertis has strengthened its enterprise portfolio, bolstered its capability in the mid- and higher range server and storage market and extended its reach in Europe following the acquisition of Hammer Consolidated Holdings for £38.3m, a distributor of server and storage solutions (subject to approval from the European Commission).

Hammer has offices in the UK, France, Germany, Sweden, Belgium and the Netherlands and employs 165 staff.

It generated sales of £155m for the 12 months ended 31st January 2016 and distributes products from a range of vendors including Dell, Intel, Netapp, Seagate and Western Digital, to almost 1,000 value added resellers, cloud service providers and systems integrators.

Following regulatory approvals, expected to be completed by the end of 2016, Hammer will continue to operate as a standalone business with both entities capitalising on the benefits of the acquisition.

Niall Ennis, DCC Technology (which trades as Exertis) MD, said: "Hammer has enjoyed considerable success in providing value added services and bespoke solutions in a number of vertical markets and has a well-earned reputation as a storage specialist.

"The acquisition has significant benefits for both companies increasing Exertis' expertise and solutions in the storage market, complementary to our existing server and enterprise business, and providing Hammer customers and vendors with a platform for growth. In addition, this deepens Exertis' presence across several European countries."

James Ward Hammer, MD, added: "We see great synergy and opportunities for our customers, vendors and employees in joining Exertis. By leveraging the complementary strengths of both companies we can only add value to what is an exciting proposition for all our stakeholders."

Annodata has pledged its support for the GLL Sport Foundation (GSF) for the second year running.

GLL is the largest UK-based charitable social enterprise delivering leisure, health and community services, and is committed to promoting sport in the community and aims to foster sporting success amongst British athletes.

Central to this aim is the GSF, which has key objectives to help reduce the financial burden facing young people as they progress within their chosen sports.

Since its inception, the Foundation has provided over 10,600 athlete award bursaries totalling over £6.1 million of support to talented individuals including Tom Daley, Anthony Joshua, Susie Rodgers, Michael McKillop, Louis Rolfe and Lutalo Muhammad. In total, 20 medals were won at the Rio Olympic Games (7 medals) and Paralympic Games (13 medals) from a group of 45 athletes who received support from the Foundation.

Joe Doyle, Marketing Director at Annodata, said: "As a company we are committed to supporting charitable causes and have a long history of doing so.

"We are delighted to be lending support, once again, to the GLL Sport Foundation so talented individuals have all the opportunities to maximise their abilities and succeed in sports.

"We believe this to be a worthy cause as, in many cases, talent is lost due to a lack of sponsorship or financial support. GSF provides thousands across the UK with the lifeline that they need to propel their sporting career.

"We look forward to continuing our support for the GLL Sport Foundation to ensure talented athletes have the best chance of success in their respective field."

Mark Gliddon, National Athlete Support Programme Manager at the GLL Sport Foundation, added: "Central to our mission is reducing the financial pressures that athletes face.

"As a result, our continued ability to enable our country's athletes to succeed depends heavily on the support that we receive from our sponsors.

"GLL has a strong working relationship with Annodata, so we are pleased that they are able to give their support to the Foundation as we look to support the next generation of Olympians and Paralympians towards Tokyo 2020."

Nimans went ‘Back2Skool' for a charity theme day in support of a key customer. Various games such as Jenga, Swingball and Hopscotch took place alongside a special Nimans Tuck Shop with school favourites such as Refreshers, Love Hearts and Drumsticks proving popular.

Several hundred pounds was raised for Birmingham Children's Hospital in support of a member of staff from reseller Azzurri Communications who is embarking on a Zambezi River challenge. Sales teams at Nimans were joined by the company's HR department in the fun day.

Comms365 has unveiled its Affinity Partner Programme for distributors, systems integrators, VARs, ISVs and consultants.

Comms365's Affinity partners will be able to augment their product portfolios with M2M, IoT and Mobile Data Internet Access services, as well as all other Comms365 services, including bonded technology, Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) / MPLS Overlay, Secure IP-VPN, FTTC and Ethernet Failover.

Partners will also gain access to Comms365's technical, marketing and sales resources.

"IoT represents a huge opportunity for the channel that to date has largely been limited in its scope to connectivity," said Mike van Bunnens, MD.

"However, as IoT continues to build momentum and SME customers in particular are educated about the operational efficiency benefits of an IoT solution for their business, it becomes a very viable differentiator.

"As such, it is our aim through the Affinity Partner Programme to provide resellers and vendors with everything they need to successfully scope, sell and deliver a true end-to-end solution for customers."

Entanet and its CEO Elsa Chen have been named on the shortlist of two national business awards.

The company itself is a finalist in the B2B Business of the Year category for the Amazon Growing Business Awards 2016, while Chen has been named a finalist in the Business Leader of the Year category of the Women in IT Awards for the second year in succession.
 
Entanet has continued to make steady progress and recent developments include the launch of its new partner management portal, synergi, which is built on the salesforce platform with in-house bespoke customisation that enhances customer service delivery by providing its nationwide network of partners with direct access to information on their connections and data traffic; and expanding its connectivity portfolio to include wireless Ethernet services, enabling partners to offer a quickly implemented alternative to fixed line connectivity solutions.
 
The company has over 100 staff, its own national MPLS network, a strong position within the connectivity market, and an extensive and established community of channel partners. It is on target to achieve an annual turnover of around £36m in the current financial year.
 
The winners of the Amazon Growing Business Awards will be announced on 30 November 2016 at a ceremony at The Brewery in the City of London.

Red Box Recorders CEO Lee Jones has stepped down after ten years at the company. Richard Stevenson takes over the role, moving from Standard Life where he was CEO of operations in Germany and Austria.

Red Box Chairman Ian McKay said: "Richard is a proven leader with a successful track record in growing businesses in the software and financial services sectors.

"With this appointment we have a leader with the credentials to take Red Box to the next level of growth globally.

"Lee has made a massive contribution to the development of Red Box and will continue working with us in a non-executive capacity."

Stevenson added: "I look forward to working with the Red Box team to maximise the opportunities this growing global market presents."

Distributor Zycko (part of the Nuvias Group) has been selected as Nokia's first pan-EMEA distributor in a move that signals a step forward in the go-to-market diversification at Nokia, extending channel and value added distribution to help expand the company's footprint in the enterprise and mid-market space across EMEA.

Initially, Zycko will focus on hardware and software integration of IP routing and optical transport networks, fibre-based LAN connectivity infrastructure for buildings/campus', open standards DDI management software and software defined networking.

Dave Parker, VP Strategic Partners, at Nokia, commented: "This appointment gives us access to a wide network of resellers experienced in communications and networking across the EMEA region.

"The type of distributor that Zycko and Nuvias are building internationally complements our own growth plans."

Paul Eccleston, Head of Nuvias Group, added: "This deal is a vote of confidence in Zycko and Nuvias and an endorsement of our concept of redefining international, specialist value distribution."

Telecoms resellers can now help customers with company car or van fleets improve the performance and safety of their sales reps and service engineers following the announcement of a new partnership programme by driver and fleet performance specialist GreenRoad Technologies.

Central to the programme is the release of GreenRoad Mobile, a smartphone app that acts as a 'coach in the cab', warning drivers in real time when they stray from a safe, smooth driving style.

It monitors 150 vehicle movements, detecting risky manoeuvres such as harsh braking, sudden acceleration, sharp cornering and swerving.

It will also help company car drivers avoid the temptation of using their mobile while driving which now carries a maximum fine of £1,000.

"Our app is installed in the background of a smartphone and it can then either interact with the driver or it can give them a score at the end of their journey," explained GreenRoad Chief Marketing Officer David Rodriguez, who is spearheading the channel development programme.

"For example, if a sales person is driving and he or she picks up the phone to look at an email or text, a notification will be sent through as a 'safety event.

"It makes sense to offer the app through telecoms resellers because it will be an added value proposition for them.

"For a low monthly fee per phone company managers will have the reassurance that employees are driving safely and it could pay for itself with in three months based on the savings on fuel alone.

"If a reseller is trying to sell a large number of mobiles to a customer and can offer to help reduce their insurance claims, increase driver awareness or improve mileage capture along with the deal it's the perfect added value sale."

Livingbridge-backed Metronet (UK) has acquired Internet infrastructure and hosting company M247 for £47.5m. The acquisition is the first step in a buy and build strategy that aims to build a disruptive platform in the connectivity space with 'last mile' control, speeding up communications to end users, and a transit network across Europe.

Mid-market PE firm Livingbridge invested in Metronet (UK) in June 2014 as part of a £45m secondary buyout of the firm.

Metronet (UK) currently employs 150 people across two sites in Manchester and works with over 2,500 businesses, generating turnover of £21.5m in the financial year to 2016.

Following the acquisition Metronet (UK) will be able to offer a combined portfolio of connectivity and content services including wireless network services, data centres and managed hosting solutions across the UK and Europe. The combined business will have three data centres, over 200 staff and EBITDA in excess of £12m.

Lee Perkins (pictured), Chief Executive at Metronet (UK), said: "M247 provides the scale and reach to build upon our existing momentum and the expertise and infrastructure to provide richer solutions to our combined customers."

M247 was founded in 2000 by school friends Jonathan Buckle and Chris Byrd, initially as a web hosting services business before David Buckle, Jonathan Buckle's father, decided to co-invest in the business to purchase a web hosting company called Open Hosting. Open Hosting was then incorporated into the existing business before being rebranded as M247 in 2003.

Matthew Caffrey, Partner at Livingbridge, added: "This is a fantastic step forward for Metronet (UK) as it continues to expand its footprint across the UK and eventually into Europe. This acquisition is the start of a journey to build an international, multi-offering Internet service provider and hosting business.

"Metronet (UK) has an exciting time ahead as it looks for similar acquisition opportunities."

According to Marcus Allchurch, Partner at Acuity Advisors, Metronet is currently one of the most exciting communications companies in Europe. "Metronet is well capitalised with a differentiated service offering and first class team of founders and new management," he said.

"As Acuity have consistently said, private equity backed buyers in this market are focusing on strategic acquisitions, and this is no exception.

"Metronet are significantly expanding its capabilities with M247’s infrastructure expertise. 

"Accounts have not been released for the year ended April 2016, however Megabuyte suggested EBITDA of around £4m and growth to a potential £6m for the current year, all of which implies a run rate multiple of just under 10x EBITDA which is very much in line with the market for high quality targets. 

"Expect more acquisitive and organic growth from Metronet and its private equity backer, Livingbridge."