Mid-market specialist Inflexion Private Equity has led the GBP44m management buyout of Eurotel Holdings, a provider of telephony services to small and medium-sized enterprises in the UK.
Mid-market specialist Inflexion Private Equity has led the GBP44m management buyout of Eurotel Holdings, a provider of telephony services to small and medium-sized enterprises in the UK.
Eurotel was founded in 1995, and the management team was later backed by Young Associates in 2005. It acts as a conduit for products and services between wholesale operators and SMEs. The management team, led by chief executive Chris Jagusz, will remain in place following the buyout.
The company employs 300 people and serves more than 15,000 customers, operating from two centres in Halifax and Coventry. Its core product and service range includes phone systems, systems maintenance, fixed lines and calls, mobile lines and calls, fixed line data services, mobile data services and IT services.
Inflexion notes that Eurotel operates in a significant market, with total telecoms spending in the UK corporate market exceeding GBP16.8bn in 2006. The company’s target market of small businesses with fewer than 50 employees encompasses 1.2 million companies with 10.9m employees that spent over GBP2.6bn on telephony services last year.
‘We have been impressed by Eurotel’s market position and future scope for growth, and look forward to working with its excellent management team to take advantage of the commercial opportunities in the sector,’ says Simon Turner, managing partner of Inflexion Private Equity.
Jagusz says: ‘Inflexion’s input and tenacity during the transaction was invaluable in maintaining the deal momentum. Their added strategic and financial support will allow us to drive the growth of the company forward on both an organic and an acquisitive basis. They are the ideal partner to help us maximise Eurotel’s potential.’
Andrew Mainwaring and Turner led the transaction on behalf of Inflexion and will join the Eurotel board. Funds managed by Inflexion have invested GBP21.25m taking a majority shareholding. The management team and Young Associates have also invested, and a package of GBP21.5m in debt facilities was committed by Lloyds TSB Corporate Markets.
