Telecoms firm plans acquisition spree after landing £1bn refinancing deal
Lancashire based telecommunications group Daisy has sealed a £1bn refinancing package.
The firm is now planning to go on an acquisition spree after landing the funding package from from US asset manager Ares.
Ares announced the debt refinancing as sole lender and some of the funding will be used to back Daisy on the acquisition trail. The transaction is one of the largest private credit financings in Europe.
Daisy’s founder Matthew Riley is also planning to buy out minority shareholder Toscafund.
Mr Riley has already restructured the company and replaced a number of executives over the last year.
Based in Nelson the firm is now one of the UK’s largest telecoms suppliers to small and medium-sized businesses.
Daisy was founded in 2001 and provides IT and telecoms services to corporations with roughly 360,000 indirect and direct customers in more than 30 locations across the UK.
The firm now has approximately 360,000 indirect and direct customers, 2,100 partners, 4,000 employees, and more than 30 locations across the UK.
Mr Riley said: “Ares has been a major financing partner since our take-private and has supported us through a number of transactions.
“With the team’s renewed support, we have been able to simplify our capital and shareholder structure.
“We look forward to continuing to exploit both the organic and inorganic opportunities that lie ahead in each of our four operating divisions, as we continue to grow our market share in the U.K. ICT market.”
Ares’ Michael Dennis added: “We have worked closely with Matthew and his management team for a number of years and on several transactions, which is key to our strategy of continuing to invest behind and support incumbent borrowers.”
Last year Daisy chief executive Neil Muller left the company after a proposed sale of the business fell through.
At the time he said: “Our founder and chairman, Matthew Riley, and I have been discussing the next phase of the group’s evolution and, following much deliberation and conversations together, I have decided to take this opportunity to pursue a new direction.”
In July Daisy pulled out of a £175m deal to buy TalkTalk’s business to business operation.
