Buoyed Six Degrees Group gobbles CSG

Managed data services specialist makes first acquisition since it changed private-equity owners earlier this month

Ambitious Six Degrees Group has reached an agreement to acquire Capital Support Group (CSG) for an undisclosed sum.

Earlier this month, the managed data services specialist changed private-equity ownership, with Charlesbank Capital Partners acquiring the firm from Penta Capital, which Six Degrees said at the time would give it ‘substantial additional capital'.

The firm was founded in 2011, and has completed 13 acquisitions since its inception, but this is its first acquisition for two years.

CSG is one of the largest providers of cloud and IT services to the alternative investment market sector in Europe, with its clients managing more than $500bn of assets powered by its hosting offerings. The firm has 130 employees, and boasts accreditations from vendors such as Microsoft, VMware and Citrix, among others.

Alastair Mills, chief executive of Six Degrees, said: "I am delighted to announce our first acquisition for over two years. Capital Support is the clear market leader in their field and they significantly enhance our existing credibility and capability in the financial services market.

"The addition of CSG will also help Six Degrees achieve our goal of delivering software and security managed services that operate further up the value stack. With our existing strong presence in the City - seven of the world's top 14 investments banks are Six Degrees' customers - we are now a true financial services powerhouse with CSG's hedge fund and private equity client base. I would like to welcome all at CSG to the Six Degrees family and I look forward to working with them to grow our business together."

Nigel Brooks, and Dean Foreman, co-founders of CSG said in a joint statement: "This is an exciting day in the evolution of Capital Support. Being part of Six Degrees will allow us access to converged services like UCaaS that our customers have been clamouring for us to deliver for some time.

"We will now be able to offer our customers a richer array of services using Six Degree's in-house technology infrastructure. We have long felt that CSG's IT managed services are highly scalable and can be extended into other industries. We are looking forward to working with the enlarged Six Degrees team."