Clearwater International has advised the shareholders of Littlefish, a mid-market outsourced IT services provider, on securing a significant investment from private equity firm LDC and debt facilities from HSBC to support its growth strategy.
Littlefish is a fast-growing and award-winning provider of outsourced IT services. The business delivers tailored managed IT service solutions and consultancy through a unique service proposition, with customer satisfaction at its core. Littlefish’s service solutions are provided to private and public companies, increasing business productivity and cost efficiency whilst delivering an enhanced user experience. The business employs over 200 staff, spread between its Nottingham and Manchester Service Centres.
Acquired through a MBO in 2010, Littlefish’s management set out to disrupt the standard models of managed IT services – where the larger incumbent service providers often fail to perform. The team has taken the business on an exciting growth journey and developed a strong reputation in the market. This reputation is underpinned by first class operational KPIs and evidenced both by the length of relationships with its clients and the ability to win new business in a variety of markets, predominantly through positive references.
LDC has strong credentials in the TMT sector gained from previous investments. Littlefish aims to benefit from LDC’s network, which will help unlock further market opportunities.
The Clearwater International team was led by Director Wesley Fell-Smith and Partner and International Head of TMT Carl Houghton, with support from Senior Associate Kirsty Handley and Associate Dan Shrimpton. The debt team comprised of Partner Chris Smith, Director Lachlan Dorrity and Executive Greg Cornes.
Mark Hughes, Ryan Brown, Shaun McCabe and John Swani from Browne Jacobson provided legal support.
Steve Robinson, Managing Director, Littlefish, says: “The Clearwater International team’s advice on deal strategy was clear, effective and highly-tailored, ultimately realising a transaction structure that met all our objectives with the right partner for the business. The team were committed from start to finish, comfortable in ‘rolling their sleeves up’ where required, and also with having challenging conversations when needed. They remained enjoyable to work with, even when the deal inevitably became moretense. We look forward to maintaining our relationship with them.”
Wes Fell-Smith, Director – TMT, Clearwater International, says: “Littlefish has identified and exploited a gap in the market for customer-centric outsourced IT managed services, which will continue to resonate as more businesses transition away from large corporate outsourced providers seeking an improved, personalised, and more efficient service. The business has a unique business model delivered by an exceptionally strong management team that has been able to grow the business significantly since its involvement. We worked with Steve and the team to find a partner for the business that could support this transaction and could also provide follow-on funding and strategic support for the business in the future. We look forward to continuing to work together to realise the team’s ambition.”
Lachlan Dorrity, Director – Debt Advisory, Clearwater International, says: “It’s been a pleasure to support the management and our M&A team in raising the debt facilities to support the deal. The management team has delivered strong growth to date and the funding from both HSBC and LDC provides unlocks even more opportunity.”
