Six Degrees buys G-Cloud supplier Carrenza

First acquisition of 2016 designed to boost public sector clout, as well as AWS integration capabilities

Six Degrees (6DG) has made its first acquisition of 2016 in the shape of public and private cloud supplier Carrenza, which it said will strengthen its foothold in the public sector.

The hosting and comms specialist recently bagged £12m in funding to spur its organic growth efforts, but said it would continue to make selected purchases this year.

Carrenza, whose customers include RBS, Majestic Wine and AgeUK, posted after-tax profits of £503,000 on sales of £3.97m in its last financial year.

An IaaS and PaaS specialist, Carrenza boasts an "expanding" public sector client base including Government Digital Service, DWP and HMRC through its status as a security-certified G-Cloud provider, 6DG said. It ranked 205th in a recent G-Cloud supplier list drawn up by CRN, with £600,000 sales through the framework.

6DG CEO Alastair Mills said the acquisition ticks three major strategic boxes for his firm, which is now backed by Charlesbank Capital Partners.

"Firstly, it strengthens our capabilities for professional and managed services in application and web hosting for mission-critical environments," he said.

"Secondly, it gives us a major presence in the public sector where Carrenza is a strong G-Cloud player. Finally, it brings public cloud integration capabilities that, especially for AWS, are increasingly part of the mix for end-user customers in an increasingly multi-cloud world."

After making three acquisitions - including Capital Support Group - in 2015 and 13 before that, 6DG widened its plan of attack at the start of this year by targeting organic growth.

But 6DG group strategy director Campbell Williams (pictured above, with Mills) told CRN that acquisitions always remained on the agenda.

"The organic investment announced in January wasn't a strategic shift, it was a supplementary development to invest substantially in our workforce - M&A activity remained on the agenda. When the right opportunity comes along, as is the case with this latest announcement, we will add to our capabilities via acquisition. Our additional organic investment remains actively in place, as announced."