Metronet (UK), the UK’s fastest growing network services provider, backed by mid-market private equity firm Livingbridge, today announces its acquisition of M247, a leading internet infrastructure and hosting company, for £47.5m.
Following the acquisition of M247, Metronet (UK) will be able to offer a combined portfolio of connectivity and content services including wireless network services, datacentres and managed hosting solutions across the UK and Europe. The combined business will have three datacentres, over 200 staff and EBITDA in excess of £12m.
Livingbridge invested in Metronet (UK) in June 2014 as part of a £45m secondary buyout of the firm and the acquisition of M247 is the first step in a targeted buy and build strategy that aims to build a disruptive platform in the connectivity space with ‘last mile’ control, speeding up communications to end users, and a powerful transit network across Europe.
Established in 2003, Metronet (UK) operates the most advanced hybrid ISP network in the UK and, by combining a unique offering of wireless and wired technology, is able to offer connectivity solutions to corporates and SMEs that are typically implemented five times quicker than traditional fibre and copper based services.
Metronet (UK) currently employs 150 people across two sites in Manchester and works with over 2,500 businesses including Intu, Sofology and ao.com, delivering turnover of £21.5m in the financial year to 2016.
M247 was founded in 2000 by school friends Jonathan Buckle and Chris Byrd, initially as a web hosting services business before David Buckle, Jonathan Buckle’s father, decided to co-invest in the business to purchase a web hosting company named Open Hosting. Open Hosting was then incorporated into Jonathan Buckle and Chris Byrd’s existing business before being rebranded as M247 in 2003.
