Dubens returns with £39m Daisy deal

THE former chairman of Lancashire telecoms and IT firm Daisy Group has re-invested nearly £40m in the business through his AIM-listed Bermuda-based private equity fund.

Investor and entrepreneur Peter Dubens helped created Daisy when it was a small listed business, and exited with a handsome return when it was taken private by founder Matt Riley last year in a £494m deal.

He is founder and director of Oakley Capital Investments which has acquired a minority stake in Daisy from Mr Riley and his institutional funder Toscafund for a consideration of approximately £39m.

Oakley said the investment has been undertaken by its secodn fund after Daisy’s recent acquisition of listed UK IT services company, Phoenix IT Group for approximately £135m.
 
In addition, OCIL has provided £14.0m directly to Daisy in the form of mezzanine finance.

Peter Dubens, said: “We are delighted to be acquiring a stake in Daisy – it is a business we know well and one that has created very significant value for OCIL in the past.  It is led by a highly respected management team that has recently completed the acquisition of Phoenix IT to create a leading UK unified communications and IT services business.

“We look forward to working with our fellow shareholders and the management team to generate further growth and value over the coming years.

“Our long term commitment to successful sectors and entrepreneurs is a key feature of our investment strategy and returns profile.  We are delighted to be working once again with Matt Riley, one of the UK’s leading TMT business builders.”

Matthew Riley added: “The recent addition of Phoenix’s strengths in IT services and solutions, particularly its managed and cloud services, has further strengthened Daisy’s existing portfolio of products and services that represent the converging world of traditional telecoms and IT. We look forward to working again with Oakley and continuing our mission to provide essential services to our customers to allow them to run and grow their businesses.”

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