Private equity firm Inflexion’s portfolio company, CableCom Networking, has acquired fast-growing utilities business Glide. The acquisition has the potential to revolutionise the student and shared housing market by giving landlords and tenants a simpler, faster way to connect, communicate and manage bills.
The deal will boost CableCom’s growth, by widening its service offering and footprint in the UK’s house share market. Together the businesses will service more than 300,000 student homes. Glide, which offers one monthly bill for all utilities split equally among house sharers, will now be able to use CableCom’s broadband network and infrastructure, enabling landlords to monitor utility usage and manage debt collection in a way they have never been able to before.
Mark Burchfield, Managing Director at CableCom, says: “This is a hugely positive step for the company. We both share the same business principles, offering simple yet innovative products that genuinely add value to students’ lives. This acquisition means students can tap into a shared knowledge and expertise, making their life simple and allowing them to concentrate on the things that matter. It also allows landlords greater visibility of tenants’ bills.”
Gareth Healy, Partner at Inflexion, says: “We are delighted that CableCom has acquired Glide. CableCom has long been the number one provider of internet to high density purpose built student accommodation, typically occupied by first year students. The acquisition of Glide expands its reach to second to fourth year students in shared houses and also broadens the range of services it provides to include all utilities. This significantly expands the scale of market that CableCom can now serve.”
CableCom, based in Somerset, serves more than 250,000 customers across Europe and the UK, providing internet services to high-density accommodation markets such as properties used by students and key workers.
Glide, part of the London Stock Exchange’s ‘1,000 companies to inspire Britain’ and a Fast Track 100 business, was founded in 2006 and was the first company to offer multi-tenant billing in shared accommodation. Turnover is forecast to reach £20m by December 2016 and the company employs more than 70 staff.
