CableCom, a provider of IT and communications managed services, has been bought by its management for £11.5 million.
CableCom, a provider of IT and communications managed services, has been bought by its management for £11.5 million.
The buy-out was led by head of sales Mark Burchfield, who has become managing director following the completion of the deal.
Funding was provided by ISIS Equity Partners, which backed the deal from its Baronsmead VCTs. The firm invested £5.6 million alongside debt provided by The Royal Bank of Scotland Corporate (RBS).
Burchfield said he sees significant future potential growth for the business: “CableCom is very well positioned to provide new and exciting communication services to the high density multi-tenanted accommodation sector.
“We have been very impressed with the professional and supportive approach from ISIS and we strongly believe that with their backing we can further capitalise on the prevailing market opportunities and in turn provide benefits to our clients, employees and suppliers,” he added.
ISIS’ investment was managed by Paul Morris, who was supported by Richard Bucknell. Under the terms of the agreement, ISIS has introduced Gareth Denley to CableCom’s board as non-executive chairman. Denley has experience of the IT sector through his roles at IBM, Rebus and Spring Group.
“In CableCom we are backing a business with a strong, dynamic management team operating in a market with long term growth prospects,” Morris said. “We have been impressed with the historic growth of the business and the quality of customer relationships. We look forward to working with management in developing CableCom still further.”
RBS’ funding was led from its Bristol office by head of corporate and structured finance Paul Wood. He said the bank’s support will help CableCom reach the next phase of its growth. “The company has been incredibly successful in recent years and this has been a great opportunity to work closely with the management team to put a bespoke funding solution in place.”
This deal follows ISIS’ previous investments in the IT sector where it has backed Quantix, service business Panacea as well as software companies Blue 8 and Boldon James.
ISIS asked Whitehead Mann to carry out the management due diligence on CableCom’s management team, which was led by Carol House, a partner in its private equity practice and head of due diligence.
“We have a well established relationship with ISIS and a good understanding of what they think good management looks like,” House said. “We were well placed to assess the performance and reputation of two key members of CableCom’s management team.
“With thorough external referencing, we gathered in-depth information on the two executives and provided ISIS with the qualitative data they required. The exercise highlighted that CableCom’s team enjoys credibility in the sector, is highly capable and has the energy and enthusiasm to take this exciting and entrepreneurial business into a successful new phase.”
Clevedon-based CableCom provides its services to tenanted properties, primarily in the student and key worker sectors. It provides a range of communications services including broadband, telephony and TV at universities including Nottingham Trent, Middlesex and Glamorgan.
It also provides networking systems to organisations such as Friends Provident, Orange and Legal & General.
