Intercept IT swallowed by Alternative Networks

Deal for £12.95m in cash will boost service provider's cloud offering

Sara Yirrell
@yirrelli
09 January 2014

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Virtualisation specialist Intercept IT has been acquired by Alternative Networks for £12.95m in cash.

The deal is expected to be earnings enhancing in the first 12 months and forms part of Alternative's plans to offer complete cloud-based solutions to its customer base.

Late last year Alternative revealed to CRN that it was on the acquisition trail to bolster its Advanced Solutions division.

Both founders of Intercept have resigned from the board, and Gary Collins, who was service delivery manager at the firm, has agreed to support the company as a consultant where required, according to a statement issued today.

Intercept posted £9.8m revenue for the financial year ended 31 May 2013, with a pre-tax loss of £300,000.

The statement hinted at a strong pipeline of business for Intercept, but it also said that the acquisition would result in some "cost synergies".

Edward Spurrier, chief executive of Alternative Networks, said: "Our acquisition strategy remains to deliver earnings-enhancing acquisitions that augment the products and services we deliver to our customers.

"With Intercept's twin offerings we will significantly broaden our range of IT services as well as acquire a well-established platform to deliver additional cloud services. Intercept has an exceptional pedigree in virtualising IT infrastructures, having virtualised over 5,000 servers and more than 2,000 different applications in 30 languages, realising millions of pounds worth of savings to their customers."

He explained that the founders of Intercept had developed a "young and energetic management team" that is well placed to take the company to the next level, supported by Alternative.

"We are delighted to have completed this acquisition against considerable interest from other parties. The acquisition of Intercept will provide a further stimulus to organic growth across the group as it presents good cross-sell opportunities into our respective customer bases and is a good use of our cash resources," Spurrier added.