Claranet adds Ardenta to M&A ensemble

UK MSP continues to pick off targets around Europe, with London-based application management specialist its latest purchase

Managed service provider Claranet claims its second acquisition in eight days has propelled its revenue runrate to the £200m mark.

Just a week after acquiring French MSP Diademys, Claranet has bolstered its UK application management skills by acquiring London-based outfit Ardenta.

Ardenta, which specialises in the management of e-commerce systems, with a particular expertise in high-volume transactional database management, has a revenue runrate of £6m. Its customers include the BBC, ITV, Ladbrokes and William Hill

With the addition of Ardenta and Diademys, Claranet said it will boast annualised revenues of £200m, a headcount to 1,200 staff and 5,700 customers in the UK, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Portugal.

Claranet claims its revenues have increased three-fold over the past four years on a constant currency basis. Other recent acquisitions include LinuxIT, Bashton and Techgate in the UK, Grita, Morea, Runiso and Aspaway in France, Echiron, Flesk and INOK in Portugal, NovaData in the Netherlands and Celingest in Spain.

"Ardenta's experience with e-commerce systems and database management will complement our in-house expertise, leading to new and improved services for our customers," said Michel Robert, UK managing director at Claranet.

"This acquisition represents the latest in a line of strategically-important deals that we've made over the past two years across Europe."