UK B2B telco Daisy Group has completed its £135m (US$206m) acquisition of Phoenix IT Group(LSE:PNX).
At the end of May, the board of Phoenix accepted the £1.60 per share offer by Daisy and its part owner, private equity firm Toscafund. The price…
UK B2B telco Daisy Group has completed its £135m (US$206m) acquisition of Phoenix IT Group(LSE:PNX).
At the end of May, the board of Phoenix accepted the £1.60 per share offer by Daisy and its part owner, private equity firm Toscafund. The price represented a 24% premium on the target’s share price.
Phoenix was advised by Investec, while Daisy was advised by Goldman Sachs.
Matthew Riley, founder and executive chairman of the acquisitive Daisy Group commented: “Our ambition is to be the leading provider of unified business communications and IT infrastructure managed services and solutions … in the UK – a marketplace we believe to be worth over £10bn per annum.”
This marks the Lancashire-based group’s second takeover this year, having bought communications solutions company Damovo in January for an undisclosed sum.
Last October, Daisy was sold in a £494m (US$797m) management buyout to Riley, Toscafund, and Penta Capital, another private equity firm. The new owners de-listed Daisy from AIM in January. While it was still trading, the telecoms provider had a market capitalisation of about £500m (US$756m).
Daisy provides hosting, broadband internet and voice services to businesses, while Phoenix provides business continuity and IT service continuity management, as well as hybrid cloud and field services. The acquisition will add 3,600 UK businesses, primarily in the education, retail and financial services markets.
