Redstone spin-off RMS sells up to Pinnacle

McAfee, CA and Sophos partner agrees £468,000 deal with telecoms VAR

Security VAR RMS Managed ICT Security has sold up to telecoms solutions provider Pinnacle Telecom Group for close to £468,000.

Staffordshire-based McAfee, CA and Sophos partner RMS was incorporated in November 2010 following a £1m management buyout from Redstone, led by Robert Cavan (pictured).

For the nine months ended 31 August 2011, RMS posted a pre-tax loss of £578,000 on revenue of £2.87m. It currently has 30 staff – about half the number that transferred at the time of the MBO.

Pinnacle bills itself as a provider of integrated telecoms services including IP solutions specialising in the SMB market. The AIM-listed firm said the acquisition would open up potent cross-sell opportunities to 1,700 additional mid-market and public sector customers.

The deal will comprise £25,000 in cash and £100,000 worth of ordinary shares at completion, and a further £343,300 in deferred payments between October 2011 and December 2014.

Pinnacle chief executive Alan Bonner said: "Following the 90-day integration period (where we are likely to see a number of one-off restructuring costs), we expect RMS to be earnings-enhancing and very much in keeping with our strategy to build Pinnacle through bolt-on, well-priced acquisitions."

RMS is the latest in a growing line of independent security VARs to sell up to larger players this year, with GSS and Security Partnerships reaching deals with MTI and Bytes over the summer, respectively.