Private Equity firm completes MBO of Hull digital firm

Private Equity investors Livingbridge has invested in Giacom, a specialist cloud services marketplace which provides cloud services to the SME market.

Giacom, based in Hull, offers a platform for all of the cloud software, infrastructure and IT support services that an Information Technology Consultants (‘ITC) might require to transition an SME client into a public or private cloud environment and then manage them on an ongoing basis.

Underpinned by a Microsoft 2-Tier Cloud Solution Provider licence, Giacom has rapidly become the vendor of choice for over 4,000 ITCs enabling the business to service a fast-growing addressable market estimated to be worth around £2.2bn.

Established in Hull in 1999, the investment from Livingbridge facilitates a management buyout of the business by Giacom Chief Executive Mike Wardell and his team from the founder, Nick Marshall.

LDC, who backed the business in 2016, are exiting and will be reinvesting alongside Livingbridge for a minority stake to support Giacom’s ongoing growth strategy. Yorkshire Bank have worked with Giacom since 2016 and continue to support the business following the new investment. Graham Gilbert will remain as chairman.

Giacom plans to build on the strong momentum it has generated to date by continuing to expand its network with ITCs, cross-selling more products and services across the marketplace and through strategic M&A.

This is the latest investment from the Livingbridge 6 fund and the fourth Livingbridge investment in TMT this year.

Mike Wardell, chief executive said: “Following a year of rapid growth which saw us double our revenues, we believe that now is the right time to secure new financial backing and accelerate our growth plans. Livingbridge’s track record of supporting other high growth businesses such as ours, combined with their experience of investing in the tech sector, means they are uniquely positioned to work with us and I am excited about our future partnership with them. I would like to thank LDC for their backing and support to date and am looking forward to the next phase of our growth strategy.”

Matthew Caffrey of Livingbridge, said: “We are very excited to be working with Mike and the team during the next phase of Giacom’s growth.  The business is extremely well positioned to capitalise on a significant market opportunity underpinned by SMEs increasingly migrating their applications and infrastructure into the cloud.  Giacom’s marketplace platform is well placed to continue to disrupt the market and drive growth.

Simon Braham, Investment Director at LDC in Manchester who led LDC’s original investment alongside Director Jonathan Bell, added:

“Thanks to the determination of Nick, Mike and the team, the strength of Giacom’s offering and the market demand for cloud-based solutions, the business has fully delivered on its strategic objectives and growth plans to date. This has created an exciting opportunity to pursue the next stage of Giacom’s ambitious growth strategy and, during what is a transformational time for the cloud-based IT market for SMEs, bringing a second growth investor on board with a similarly strong technology focus can only help drive the momentum.”

Christian Mayo and Graham Pearce of KPMG’s Northern Corporate Finance practice advised LDC on its exit from Giacom. Christian Mayo said: “This transaction exemplifies the speed with which tech businesses can realise their objectives. To be advising on a secondary buyout just 18 months after LDC’s initial backing of Giacom is really pleasing and highlights the dynamism the tech sector can represent, from an M&A perspective and more broadly.”