Montagu Private Equity has acquired the internet hosting company Host Europe Corporation for £222 million.

Montagu Private Equity has acquired the internet hosting company Host Europe Corporation for £222 million.

AIM-listed private equity group Oakley Capital first acquired Host Europe in 2008 for £128 million. Host Europe then included Vialtus Solutions, which was sold to the business telecoms company Daisy Group in July 2009 for £42 million. The sale of Vialtus consisted of £13 million in cash and 36.25 million ordinary shares in Daisy Group, which Oakley will retain post completion of the current deal.

Peter Dubens, director of Oakley Capital Investments, comments: ‘Host Europe has performed consistently well since Oakley acquired the business in 2008. On completion this will represent a significant disposal for the fund and achieves a good return for investors over a difficult economic period.’

Host Europe operates two web hosting business in the UK and Germany. In the UK the company operates through the brands 123reg and Webfusion. London-based Webfusion is a shared internet hosting provider and 123reg is a domain name registration company. In Germany, Host Europe is a managed hosting provider for websites. The deal is subject to regulatory approval in Germany.