Acquisition of United Communications Limited

RNS Number : 4715H

Iomart Group PLC

01 December 2015

 

1 December 2015

iomart Group plc

("iomart" or the "Group")

Acquisition of United Communications Limited

iomart, the cloud computing company, is pleased to announce that it has acquired the entire issued share capital of United Communications Limited (which trades as "United Hosting") (on a cash-free/debt-free normalised working capital basis) for a total consideration of up to £11.0 million, with £7.5 million settled in cash on completion. A further amount of £3.5 million is contingent on United Hosting achieving agreed EBIT performance targets in years to April 2016 and 2017.

United Hosting was founded in 1998 and provides managed, dedicated and shared hosting services and domains to approximately 6,500 customers, the majority of which are small businesses. The company is based in Hemel Hempstead which is where its main data centre facility is located. It also leases data centre space in London and in Dallas, Texas and has a support function based in India. It is agreed that the two co-founders of United Hosting will remain with the business.

United Hosting's turnover in the twelve months to 30 April 2015 was £2.4 million with EBIT of £1.3 million and net assets of £2.0 million. The initial consideration and any contingent consideration will be financed out of the Group's existing banking facilities and the acquisition is expected to be immediately earnings enhancing before acquisition costs and normal acquisition adjustments including any fair value adjustments and the amortisation of intangible assets.

Angus MacSween, Chief Executive stated:

"In line with previous acquisitions made by iomart, United Hosting is a profitable, growing business whose services reflect those we offer. As such, the business fits well within our acquisition criteria and will be a valuable addition to the Group."

For further information:

iomart Group plc	Tel. [phone]
Angus MacSween, Chief Executive
Richard Logan, Finance Director
Peel Hunt (Nominated Adviser and Broker)	Tel. [phone]
Richard Kauffer
Euan Brown
Alma PR	Tel: [phone]
Caroline Forde
Hilary Buchanan

About iomart Group plc

Award winning cloud company iomart Group PLC (AIM:IOM) enables businesses and organisations to operate their online data and IT environments safely and securely. Headquartered in Glasgow, Scotland, iomart partners with leading vendors such as VMware, Amazon, EMC, Microsoft, Asigra, Arbor and Dell to offer customers a centrally managed, controlled and completely agnostic set of hybrid, private and public cloud platforms. By owning a global network and datacentre infrastructure, iomart can support any customer who wishes to move seamlessly between any and all of these platforms with a consultative level of knowledge and expertise, delivering cloud services to meet exact business needs. For more information visit www.iomart.com

 

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