Cloud group confirms £26m loan facility for growth programme

Firstcom Europe, the Bolton-based pan-European cloud telecommunications provider, has reached an agreement with Kartesia for a new senior loan facility of £26.2m to support its ongoing buy and build strategy and to refinance its existing debt arrangements.

Over the past six years Firstcom has made eight acquisitions and achieved an annual turnover of more than £35m.

It currently operates in the UK, Germany, Sweden, Denmark and Poland, and will be seeking to make further acquisitions within this footprint.

Firstcom chief executive, Christian Bleakley, said: “I am delighted that Kartesia has provided its support for Firstcom to continue with the acquisition strategy that has proven to be successful for us.

“We look forward to our collaboration with them in the future.”

Nick Holman, director at Kartesia, said: “Firstcom Europe is an established and high-quality provider of unified communication solutions with an exceptional management team.

“With its proprietary product portfolio across on-premises and cloud-based solutions, the company is in a unique position to support its clients in the ongoing transitioning to digital telephony. We look forward to supporting the group in its further development.”

Firstcom has developed a Unified Communications (UCaaS) system that encompasses advanced voice services, online chat, video conferencing, screen sharing and SIP channel internet access for SMEs.

There has been a rapid take up of these services during the pandemic.

Mr Bleakley added: “Firstcom will continue to develop innovative cloud-based products that will be embedded into business practices, even after COVID-19 has passed.”

As part of the transaction, debt previously provided by Beechbrook Capital will be refinanced but they will retain a shareholding in the group.

Tim Johnston, from Beechbrook, said: “We remain very excited about the prospects for Firstcom and look forward to continuing our partnership.”