Azzurri Communications acquired by private equity firm
After months of speculation, convergence VAR decides to sell not float
As predicted by CRN, communications VAR Azzurri has been acquired by PPM Capital, the private equity arm of Prudential for a cash consideration of £182.5m.
PPM Capital and the Azzurri management team claimed they will work together to create a "major independent national company offering the full range of converged voice and data services". The firms said focus will now be on organic growth augmented by potentially larger acquisitions.
Martin St Quinton, chief executive of Azzurri, said: "We have always felt that Azzurri has a very exciting future and we looked at a number of strategic options to deliver the next stage of our development. We have been very impressed with PPM's enthusiasm and commitment to working in partnership with us to continue to grow the company both organically and through acquisition.
"We think this is great news for our employees, customers and partners. I am particularly pleased that we have been able to reward every single member of staff with a pay-out through our share trust scheme," added St Quinton.
James Barton, director at PPM Capital, said: "Our key investment criterion is the quality of the management team and with Azzurri we are working with the best in the industry. It already has a strong track record and we believe that our partnership with it will deliver outstanding results in this fast growing sector."
Back in April, St Qintn told CRN that Azzurri planned to float on the Alternative Investment Market to gain additional funding.
Further reading:
Azzurri to float to fund further acquisitions