£45m secondary buyout at Metronet

A MANAGEMENT team at wifi specialist Metronet has bought the business in a £45m deal with the backing of ISIS Equity Partners.

It means an exit for LDC which which invested around £15m for a majority stake two years ago.

Manchester-based Metronet specialises in delivering high speed broadband services through wifi connections.

It now has around 1,200 customers including Umbro, landlord Bruntwood, publisher Autotrader and online retailer ao.com. The business operates in Manchester, Leeds, Bradford, Birmingham, Liverpool, Warrington, Chester and Crewe, and plans to use ISIS’ backing to fund further expansion.

The deal has been led by chief executive Elliott Mueller, James McCall, who founded the business in 2003, Steven Axon, Craig Timmis and Lee Lawrence.

ISIS’ Xavier Woodward said: “ISIS is backing an outstanding team and a compelling, disruptive customer proposition that is competitively and technologically differentiated from other ISPs by its wireless technology. We are very excited to partner with Metronet (UK) during its next phase of growth and look forward to continued expansion and success.”

Mr Mueller said: “Metronet (UK) has enjoyed a decade of growth and is now seen as one of the leading lights in the industry. We have a very simple mission: to offer our customers a breath of fresh air from the traditional telecoms market. This funding partnership will bring new faces and even more energy to the management team at Metronet (UK), and will be the springboard for our expansion across the country. We look forward to announcing our expansion plan over the coming months.”

LDC said Metronet’s revenues jumped 98% during its two-year ownership and earnings before, interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation were up 83%.

Jonathan Bell, director and co-head of LDC in the North West, said: “Over the past two years, we have worked hard to support Metronet (UK)’s growth aspirations as it capitalises on rapidly developing networking technology and demand for connectivity.

“Our investment has provided tangible, transformative change which has helped to establish the business as a leader in the UK Internet service market. We wish Elliott, the rest of the management team and staff all the best as Metronet (UK) takes its next steps on its growth journey.”

Metronet was advised by investment bank Altium.