Daisy buys Fone Logistics for £3.6m
BUSINESS telecoms provider Daisy Group has expanded again – this time with the acquisition of Northumberland-based Fone Logistics for £3.6m.
Fone Logistics provides mobile handsets and airtime to to more than 600 dealers, who predominantly sell to small-medium businesses, receiving commission from the mobile networks for connecting customers.
Fone Logistics had revenues of £19.2m, EBITDA of £2.1m, and gross profit of £0.5m for the half year to the end of April 2010.
Daisy said it had identified areas of the business which are to be discontinued or hived out at completion, meaning revenues and gross profits of the continuing business for the same period were £11.8m and £1.4m respectively with EBITDA being unaffected.
The group added that the deal would strengthen its relationships with O2, Vodafone and Orange and that it would also benefit from Fone Logistics’ trading relationships with manufacturers including Nokia and Sony Ericsson.
It follows last week’s news that the group has agreed a new £75m funding deal with Lloyds TSB, Yorkshire Bank and HSBC, specifically to help it’s continued acquisition strategy.
Matthew Riley, chief executive of Daisy, said: “We are delighted to be able to announce this acquisition, which increases our competitive position in the mobile section of the unified communications market.
“This acquisition is also consistent with the group’s stated ambition to further consolidate the fragmented communications market and enhances our product offering to the UK SME market. We will be continuing to pursue this strategy.”
Fone Logistics will be managed by Daisy Group business Anglia Telecom Centres Ltd (Daisy Distribution).
