UKFast makes good on M&A pledge

Cloud and hosting outfit adds 1,500 clients via purchase of UK arm of BurstNET

Cloud and hosting firm UKFast has made its first acquisition and claims to have several more targets in its crosshairs.

The Manchester-based firm has added 1,500 clients to its books by acquiring the UK arm of American hosting outfit BurstNET for an undisclosed sum.

The purchase comes just days after UKFast appointed an M&A director to help it assess targets after concluding that its lack of M&A nous had resulted in previous opportunities slipping through the net.

"We have seen companies in the past that we would have loved to acquire but they were snapped up by competitors," said chief executive Lawrence Jones.

"We completed the deal quickly thanks to the expertise of our latest appointment, M&A director Catherine [Hougton], without whom we could have missed the boat on the sale."

Shawn Arcus, chief executive of BurstNET, said: "We approached Lawrence initially to discuss the migration of 10 racks from Telecity because of the value proposition UKFast could offer. We realised quickly that UKFast, with a strong focus on the UK, could offer our UK customers an enhanced level of service."

UKFast was advised on the deal by Pinsent Masons, led by corporate partner Howard Gill, and assisted by senior associate Sarah Flinn.

Houghton, who has previously worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers and Lloyds Development Capital, said more acquisitions will follow.

"This is an exciting first step in our M&A programme and we already have a number of other acquisition opportunities in the pipeline which are currently under assessment," she said.