Calyx MS gobbled up by Redcentric

Acquisition for £12m expected to go through once recent Chess and Daisy deals are complete

Calyx Managed Services (MS) has been snapped up by fellow managed services firm Redcentric just over a week after it offloaded parts of its business to Chess and Daisy.

In a London Stock Exchange announcement this morning, Redcentric said it has conditionally acquired the firm from its private-equity backer MXC Capital for £12m.

Completion is expected on 13 April on the condition of the successful disposal of certain units, which were recently announced.

Last week, MXC offloaded Calyx MS' Carrier Services division to Chess for £1.8m while its Break-Fix unit was bought by Daisy Partner Services (part of Daisy Group) for £3.75m.

Redcentric said the acquisition could be the first of many in the future.

MXC only recently came on board at Calyx – it bought the firm from its previous backer Better Capital in February for £9m after a bidding war.

Redcentric said the Calyx buy would be "immediately earnings-enhancing" and an "excellent strategic addition" to the business.

For the full year to 31 December 2014, Calyx MS made a gross profit of £5.1m on turnover of £9.1m.

Redcentric's chief operating officer Fraser Fisher said:

"We are delighted with this acquisition: it fits our strategy well, and will be earnings-enhancing as we expect to generate operating margins in line with our existing business.

"We welcome the Calyx clients and look forward to providing a high-quality service while offering a broader range of solutions. This acquisition builds on our successful and growing Redcentric platform; following the integration of Calyx we will seek to augment our strong organic growth with further acquisitions that fit our investment criteria."

In a seperate announcement today, MXC Capital said the net return from its investment in Calyx after restructuring costs and advisory fees is expected to be £5.3m.

Its chief executive Marc Young said: "Following MXC's acquisition of Calyx, a strategic review and restructuring of its businesses was carried out. The subsequent disposals of the Calyx businesses have been to industry buyers where we expect they will thrive.

"We are delighted to have concluded this series of transactions to the benefit of each acquirer as well as to the benefit of MXC."