Under the terms of the deal Darwin is backing the existing management team which is led by chief executive officer Mark Fowle. Founded in 1997, Attenda had been supported by M/C Partners since 2002.

Surrey-headquartered Attenda hosts and manages its customers’ IT systems through its cloud management platform for businesses including Nisa, Reed.co.uk, BMI, Princes and Travelodge.

Fowle comments: ‘Our partnership with them [Darwin] will give us greater scope to invest in service development and accelerate our ambitious growth plans.

‘We have worked hard to build a strong platform from which to grow and relish the opportunity to extend our position in this market.’

In February, London-based Darwin completed its first exit since its formation in 2007, through the sale of Maxinutrition to pharmaceuticals giant GlaxoSmithKline in a transaction worth £162 million.

In July the private equity firm made an acquisition through its portfolio company Euroffice, for UK Office Direct.

Commenting on the recent deal, Nick Jordan, partner at Darwin, adds:  ‘Attenda has a highly professional and experienced management team and is operating in an exciting segment of the managed services market.

‘We see great potential for Attenda and are looking forward to working with Mark and his team to help extend their leading position in Cloud computing.’

In 2010 Attenda disposed of its subsidiary IFL to TeleCity in a deal for £21 million.

Darwin was advised by Harris Williams, Travers Smith, Grant Thornton and Deloitte.