Peckish Adapt orders up Pizza Express provider Sleek

But managed hosting outfit claims it is taking more targeted approach to acquisition than 'brash' rivals

Managed hosting firm Adapt has sought to distance itself from the "brash" buy-and-build strategies of rivals after acquiring small cloud hosting provider Sleek.

Leeds-based Sleek, which has 20 customers including Pizza Express and Ordnance Survey, specialises in managed private, public and hybrid cloud services.

It has 20 technical staff and Adapt said the acquisition would hand it a strategic footprint in the north of England.

Adapt is backed by private equity house Lyceum Capital but chief executive Stewart Smythe was keen to put clear water between his firm's approach and that of big-spending rivals.

"Sleek enhances what we already offer to customers and is a very natural fit," he explained.

The acquisition will broaden Adapt's infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) proposition with "accessible entry-level cloud services", Smythe added.

"Our combined business represents a real alternative for fast-growing companies looking for more than transactional cloud services, who require a deeper level of support and want an alternative to ‘live chat' as a method of talking to their hosting partner," he said.

The acquisition follows Adapt's purchase of Cardiff-based managed services player eLINIA last year.