A second acquisition in the last month has seen AIM-listed iomart snap up Leeds-based Backup Technology (BTL).
The Glasgow-headquartered company has forked out £23 million to close the transaction, an amount which will be satisfied through an initial consideration of £17.5 million in cash and £3.5 million through the issuing of new shares. The remaining £2 million is payable in cash on 31 January 2014.
In early September iomart began its 2013 dealmaking by purchasing server and bandwidth business Redstation for £6.6 million.
Newly-acquired BTL is a provider of cloud backup and disaster recovery services for customers including Liverpool and Everton football clubs. The business posted a turnover of £5.2 million for the year to date December 2012 and currently employs 16 people.
Angus MacSween, CEO of iomart, says that BTL have been on the company’s radar for some time. He adds, ‘BTL gives iomart a solid and well-established platform to grow further from, with a very good enterprise customer base and little crossover from the existing base.’
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Financial support for the deal has come from Bank of Scotland, which has stumped up a £35 million debt package – a £15 million term loan and £20 million revolving credit facility.
Ritchie Fiddes, co-founder of BTL, will continue in his role as sales and service director at the business after the acquisition.
‘As the growth of cloud services continues to gain momentum, iomart provides a perfect fit for BTL to be able to offer its customers additional complimentary services,’ Fiddes says.
