Business Growth Fund portfolio company broadbandchoices.co.uk has bought mobile phone comparison site rightmobilephone.co.uk for an undisclosed amount.
Set up in 2005, broadbandchoices.co.uk is based in London and provides comparison services for broadband, home phone and digital TV.
The acquisition follows on from a national TV advertising campaign and will result in broadbandchoices.co.uk moving into a new vertical by setting up a mobile comparison service during the first quarter of 2014.
Michael Phillips, managing director at broadbandchoices.co.uk told GrowthBusiness back in April that acquisition targets going forward would be smaller, digital companies which may have large traffic, or a technology/product which broadbandchoices.co.uk would look to ‘plug in’.
Commenting on the company’s first ever purchase, Philips adds, ‘We already have a solid footing in broadband, phone and TV services but mobile was the missing piece of the puzzle for us.
‘The mobile phone market represents a huge opportunity for us and we are confident that our brand campaign will give us the edge in a competitive industry.’
More on broadbandchoices.co.uk:
- Broadbandchoices.co.uk: Investment for business growth
- Michael Phillips on building your own database
Support for the acquisition has come from the Business Growth Fund, a bank-backed fund which invested in broadbandchoices.co.uk in October 2012. Back then, its £10 million capital injection into the business was its joint largest commitment to date.
Following the deal, rightmobilephone.co.uk founders Neil McHugh and James Zielinski will be joining the broadbandchoices.co.uk team of 70.
‘It was important to bring the right partner on board and rightmobilephone’s technology is a natural fit for our business that will let us rapidly launch and further develop a mobile comparison service for our customers both in the UK and abroad,’ Phillips says.