Acquisition of IT Support & Managed Services Company
The Situation
As business brokers with a wealth of experience in business sales and acquisitions, we tend to promote our achievements in managing and completing successful sales working from a mandate from a business seller. In this particular case study, we focus on our expertise in securing acquisitions, working on behalf of business buyers.
In this project we were retained by the buyers to find suitable acquisition targets in the IT support and managed services sector. In our initial assessment of this project, our main considerations were to acknowledge the vast range of options in a notoriously thriving sector and align our search with the specific requirements of our client.
The buyers were two individuals, one with expertise in the IT sector gained from a corporate career in Australia, the other with financial and business development expertise. We were given a clear mandate to approach off-market opportunities and over the 2 years we worked with the clients, we uncovered numerous opportunities, both on and off the market. Each opportunity involved a great deal of action on our part, where we took the lead with assessing the company valuations, making offers and negotiating to heads of terms.
Throughout the process, we worked in close collaboration with our clients, who were well funded and prepared to offer terms to ensure the deal worked well for them as buyers and for the potential seller.
The Outcome
In the eventual acquisition of Protozoon, the seller was represented by another broker, who understandably was pushing for the best deal terms for their client. From our experience in the SME business sales market, and in particular the sale of IT support and managed services companies, we were able to advise our clients on what were reasonable demands from the seller’s broker, and which were not. As a result, we were able to reach a conclusion on agreeing heads of terms quickly and effectively on their behalf.
Protozoon proved to be an ideal acquisition as a retirement sale of a relatively small but very profitable IT business with £400k revenue. The business had a well-established trading record of 15 years, supporting a diverse range of large and small businesses and specialising in the design, supply installation and maintenance of their clients’ networks.
The resulting acquisition has given our client a strong platform business on which to grow and potentially acquire other companies in the future, at the same time as allowing the seller a clean exit from their company. The deal was completed in June 2021 and managed throughout by our Business Sales and Acquisitions Consultant Sian Murray. Her diligent work was appreciated by the Acquisitions Search Client who stated,
‘Hi Sian, thank you so much for such a great service, helping us and guiding us.’
Ruta J - Buyer of IT Support & Managed Services Company – South-East UK
