Cloud and managed hosting business iomart has purchased Melbourne Server Hosting in a move which sees the AIM-listed business gain a foothold in Manchester.

Melbourne Server Hosting has become iomart’s second acquisition of 2012 and gives the cloud computing and managed hosting company two data centres and offices in Manchester as well as a disaster recovery facility.

Founded in 2002 by Daniel Keighron-Foster, Melbourne Sever hosting has customers including JJP Sports and satirical news website The Daily Mash.

The deal, which has been made for an undisclosed amount, follows on from iomart’s purchase of Skymarket in July, a transaction which was not announced at the time.

Melbourne Server Hosting CEO Keighron-Foster, comments, ‘I have spent over ten years building a successful hosting company which prides itself on the personal service it gives to customers, which is something that iomart is also passionate about.’

Angus MacSween, CEO of iomart, says the deal is an important buy for the business as it provides it with its first physical data centre in the North West of England.

He adds, ‘We’ve been looking to gain a foothold in the Manchester area for some time and Melbourne provided us with the right opportunity.’