Wavenet acquires Excell Group to push revenue above £100m
Solihull-based Wavenet has acquired Excell Group in a deal that will grow its cloud and workspace business and push its revenue above £100m.
Described as “the largest deal in Wavenet’s history”, the company, backed by Macquarie Capital, is advancing its cloud and workspace offering by adding the experience and infrastructure of Excell Group into its solution and service portfolio.
This acquisition will bolster Wavenet Group’s market share in the cloud and workspace market and strengthen its place as one of the UK’s leading managed service providers to businesses for fully converged data, voice, cloud, and IT.
Excell Group has grown steadily since its inception through both organic and acquisitive means, expanding its network, portfolio and creating a successful business centre service for landlords and serviced offices.
The Excell acquisition is the third addition to the Wavenet Group since Macquarie’s majority ownership was announced six months ago.
With the acquisition of NTS Communications and Internal Systems, Wavenet now provides services to over 10,000 businesses, and has an annual turnover climbing to more than £100m.
Bill Dawson, CEO of Wavenet said: “Excell is the largest and most exciting acquisition we have made to date, bringing new services and a talented team into the Wavenet Group. This acquisition represents a huge step forward in our growth plans, giving us a stronger presence in the south of the UK and adding experience in growing service areas including flexible workplaces and cloud.
“Excell’s passionate focus on customer happiness closely reflects the values that everyone at Wavenet is dedicated to, the combined capability will meaningfully benefit our customers, partners, and employees. I am extremely proud of our teams and look forward to continuing our growth and success as we integrate Excell into the Wavenet Group.”
Darren Strowger, chairman of Excell Group, said: “Following almost 30 years of growing our business into a dynamic and trusted organisation, we felt the time was right to take the next step and we couldn’t have found a better partner for that than Wavenet. Wavenet’s vision and values align completely with those that we already hold at Excell, which will not only enable a smooth integration, but will quickly enhance the service provided to our customers.
“The team at Wavenet have been supportive and flexible throughout the entire transaction and we’re excited to see what’s possible being part of the Wavenet Group.”
Adam Joseph, head of private equity for Macquarie Capital Principal Finance Europe, said: “As digital connectivity and innovative technology services become ever more important, we’re proud to be able to support the expansion of Wavenet, leveraging our extensive financial and operational expertise. The Excell acquisition is the third in six months, and significantly grows the business. We’re excited to be a part of its growth journey and will continue to support the Wavenet management team to provide vital telecommunication and connectivity services to the UK’s SME and public service customers.”
Wavenet was advised by the Squire Patton Boggs Leeds office (led by partner David Milne and senior associate Louisa Hine) and Travers Smith (led by partner Spencer Summerfield and senior associate Hugh Hutchison).
Excell was advised by Oakley Advisory (led by Chris Godsmark, Ed Wirgman, Oliver Temple) and Osborne Clark (led by partner Mike Freer).
Bespoke M&A of Birmingham advised on the buyout of the minority shareholders as part of the deal.
