BGF adds Olive to reseller smörgåsbord

Vodafone and Mitel partner poised to scale up after bagging £10m from banking-backed investment company

Olive Communications is the latest reseller whose growth is set to be super-charged by banking-backed investment company Business Growth Fund (BGF).

Since it was set up by the UK's five main banking groups in 2011 with the aim of providing long-term capital to fast-growing SMEs, BGF has invested in more than 100 firms, including tech suppliers Inoapps, Skyscape and APSU.

Olive Communications, a £30m-turnover Vodafone, Microsoft and Mitel partner which has featured on the Sunday Times Tech Track for the last three years, has become BGF's latest investment.

Olive said it would use BGF's £10m growth capital, alongside £5.25m in new debt facilities provided by Barclays, to further scale up its operations.

This includes expanding its 150-strong headcount across its three sites in High Wycombe, Hatfield and Towcester and 7,000-strong customer base, the firm said.

According to its website, BGF has amassed a portfolio of 103 firms. This includes Oracle reseller Inoapps and telecoms services firm GCI, in which it invested £10m apiece, and cloud infrastructure services outfit Skyscape, which bagged a £4m investment. IBM partner APSU also received £7m from BGF in 2014.

Olive did not disclose how the investment has affected its ownership, but BGF typically demands a shareholding of between 10 and 40 per cent.

Olive said its turnover has grown from £11m in 2012 to nearly £30m but CEO Martin Flick said this had all been on a self-invested basis and that the firm harbours ambitions to develop its product offering further.

"BGF's minority, long-term funding model gives us the flexibility to do this," he said. "At the same time, we keep control of the business. We are excited about this partnership, and about leveraging the huge network that BGF has built over the past four years."

Mark Nunny, an investor at BGF who will also take a seat on the board of Olive Communications, said: "Our flexible equity will give Olive the headroom to invest organically for growth and consider acquisitions as part of its strategy."