Six Degrees hits £70m sales with datacentre buy

Managed data services outfit makes 13th conquest

Serial acquirer Six Degrees has snapped up a central London-based datacentre operator in a move that takes its turnover run rate past £70m.

BIS is Six Degrees' 13th conquest since the private equity-backed managed data services specialist was founded by former SpiriTel boss Alastair Mills in July 2011.

The London-based operator adds £16m to Six Degrees' turnover, pushing its headcount from 220 to 250 in the process.

BIS provides corporate co-location and private cloud services and Mills said the acquisition will give it more clout among security-conscious customers, particularly those based in the City.

"The location adds huge credibility to our service offering," he said. "Many of our target customers still insist on a proprietary London presence and not just reselling space in somebody else's datacentre which, frankly, anyone can offer."

CRN had heard whispers that Six Degrees was in the market for a large south-east datacentre provider and the move fits in with its strategy of having control of its own hosting and network assets.

Since its inception 20 months ago, Six Degrees' acquisition spree has taken in 12 other firms. Three worked in the traditional voice space and one other in the co-location space, with the remaining eight spanning across the IP telephony, data network, managed hosting and cloud computing markets.

BIS, which is a little larger than the £5m-turnover outfits Six Degrees normally favours, brings it 200 more customers.

Mills concluded: "The acquisition of BIS is a strategically significant addition to our asset portfolio. We are gaining a high-quality hosting centre at the heart of the country's digital economy. BIS has a strong heritage, an excellent mid-market customer list and we look forward to its talented team joining 6DG to help us to maintain our track record of strong organic growth."