Telecoms business expands turnover and geographical reach with latest acquisition
Bolton-based pan European telecoms business, Firstcom Europe, has boosted its turnover by £6.2m and extended its geographical reach to Hertfordshire and Suffolk with the acquisition of Calteq, for an undisclosed sum.
In August 2020 Firstcom Europe reached an agreement with Kartesia for a new senior loan facility of £26.2m to support its ongoing buy and build strategy, as well as refinance its existing debt arrangements.
Calteq recorded EBITDA of £1.2m, while its recurring revenues are very strong, at 80% of total.
Firstcom Europe CEO, Christian Bleakley, said he was impressed by the low customer churn and professionalism of the Calteq team, almost all of whom will be joining the expanded business.
He said: “I am looking forward to working with Calteq who have been successfully trading for 19 years and have built up a great reputation and a loyal customer base with strong revenues. Their expertise in offering multi-site and bespoke solutions will complement our unified communications products and enhance our ability to grow the business organically.”
Mike Stephenson, founder and director of Calteq, said: “One of the reasons we were keen to join with Firstcom is the opportunities it provides my colleagues to progress. With Firstcom Europe’s product set, our customers will be able to transition seamlessly to cloud based solutions, meaning both my colleagues and our customers will benefit. I am looking forward to working with the team as the enlarged business delivers on its ambitious growth targets.”
Since first investing in Firstcom Europe in August 2020, Kartesia has committed more than £30m to the business to refinance its existing debt arrangements and support its ongoing buy and build strategy.
With Kartesia’s funding, Firstcom has acquired two businesses in Germany and a number of customer databases in the UK, in addition to the most recent acquisition of Calteq. Kartesia will continue to support the acquisition strategy, with a number of exciting M&A opportunities in the pipeline.
Firstcom received legal advice from Knights on the acquisition, with David Easdown and Ryan Tweedale leading the team comprising specialists from the technology, media and telecoms group.
