Home / Deals / Advised Lloyds TSB Development Capital on its acquisition of Easynet, a global managed network, hosting and telepresence company, from BSkyB Plc

Advised Lloyds TSB Development Capital on its acquisition of Easynet, a global managed network, hosting and telepresence company, from BSkyB Plc
Jul 2010
acquired
$152 million
  • Sector: Cloud Managed Services
  • Deal Type: Private Equity Deals
  • Engagement type: Buyside
  • Size: $152 million
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Arma Partners is pleased to announce that it has acted as exclusive financial advisor to Lloyds Development Capital (“LDC”) and the Easynet Global Services (“Easynet”) Management Team on the £100m acquisition of Easynet from BSkyB (“Sky”).

Easynet is a specialist telecommunications business that designs and manages data networks for large businesses as well as providing managed hosting and video conferencing solutions around the globe. It also provides fibre services for mid-market businesses in the UK and Holland.

Sky and LDC will enter into a long-term supply agreement to grant Easynet Global Services continued access to Sky’s national fibre network in the UK and Sky will also continue to be a business customer of Easynet.

The sector backdrop is very favourable, with aggregate expenditure on business data services across Europe expected to increase significantly driven by the accelerating trend of companies to outsource management and location of their servers and hosting. Easynet also operates in the most attractive sub-segments of the business data services market both by product and delivery technology.

The transaction represents a significant milestone in the development of Arma Partners’ Global Communications practice, building on previous transactions involving key industry players including freenet, Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone, United Internet and MTN. The transaction also highlights Arma’s ability to provide market-leading, seamless advice across the entire Technology, Media & Telecommunications (“TMT”) spectrum.

Closing of the transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and a works council consultation in respect of certain Easynet employees.

– Easynet is a specialist telecommunications business that designs and manages data networks for large businesses as well as providing managed hosting and video conferencing solutions around the globe

– Easynet also provides fiber services for mid-market businesses in the UK and Holland

– Easynet is headquartered in London with c.1,100 employees and operations in 8 European countries

– Lloyds TSB Development Capital (“LDC”), the investment arm of Lloyds Banking Group, is a leading private equity company in the UK mid-market

– Since 1981, LDC has completed over 400 investments and has ongoing interests in over 60 businesses across the UK

– In this transaction, LDC backed the management team led by the current Easynet CEO David Rowe

– The sector backdrop is very favourable, with aggregate expenditure on business data services across Europe expected to increase significantly, driven by the accelerating trend of companies to outsource management and location of their servers and hosting

– Easynet operates in the most favourable sub-sectors of the business data service market both by product and delivery technology

– Easynet is expected to continue to grow strongly both organically and also via acquisitions, achieving enhanced margins as the business grows

– Easynet will maintain access to the Sky network and Sky will also remain as a significant customer of Easynet

– Arma Partners played a central role in originating and enabling the transaction

– Arma Partners’ relationships with Easynet management, LDC and Sky were important in the successful execution of the transaction

– Arma Partners was engaged by LDC to co-ordinate the acquisition process and provide full support including due diligence, financial modelling, valuation, financing and contract negotiations

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