Digital firm on acquisitive trail
A Halifax-headquartered technology firm has announced it its looking acquire at least two IT and communications businesses, as it prepares for growth of up to 80% in 2018.
Vapour Cloud has around £10m to spend over the coming year and is on the lookout to buy a Northern IT support firm with Microsoft partner status. A traditional voice company is also being sought.
Vapour is aiming to become a £12m business by 2020 and has a goal is to accelerate expansion with procurements.
“We mark our fifth year in business this July, so as we look ahead to what the board is trying to achieve going forward, a buy and build strategy is a natural progression for the organisation,” said Mercer.
“We’ve established a 96% net recurring revenue rate to date, so our business development model is easy to maintain. We had a 64% seed of growth in 2017, and hope to realise 65-80% by the end of this year.
“There are a number of well-established operators in this sector – dozens of which started out as lifestyle businesses – but many are not cloud-first.
“Of course, some are rising to the challenge and quickly adapting their offering to satisfy clients’ modern business needs. But cloud is an entirely different world. We therefore hope that by acquiring two – or more – of these such companies, we can successfully build on the legacy the current owners will leave behind, whilst supplying their customers with the next generation products and services they’re looking for.”
When asked why the focus is on acquiring businesses in the North, Tim concluded: “We are of course considering investments irrespective of geography. But the vibrancy of activity in the North is undeniable, and the synergies associated with augmenting our already reputable skill-set in the region will be vast.”
Vapour specialises in cloud secure voice, connectivity and storage solutions, and is currently a 32-strong team. The business has attracted £4m of private equity investment to date.
