Long-term debt finance for the deal was provided by HSBC, while Investec Fund Finance supplied bridging debt.

John Hartz, managing partner at Inflexion, led the deal with colleagues Richard Swann and Gareth Healy. He comments, ‘We see great opportunities for [FDM], which even during the recession has traded well and expanded margins.’

Hartz and Swann are joining the board of the vehicle set up to acquire FDM, Astra 5.0, as non-executive directors.

The company trains graduates in various IT disciplines, then hires them out to large organisations looking for entry-level staff.

This is the second private equity acquisition of an AIM-quoted company in a fortnight after insurance specialist LitComp was taken private by Maven Capital Partners last week.