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Comms VAR Arrow ups M&A ante

Godalming-based reseller looking for 'larger acquisition opportunities' after securing M&A fund from new investor Growth Capital Partners

Comms reseller Arrow Business Communications is gearing up for an acquisition spree after taking on strategic investment from private equity firm Growth Capital Partners (GCP).

The Godalming-based outfit, which partners with the likes of O2, Vodafone, BlackBerry, LifeSize and Mitel, has nearly trebled in size over the past six years courtesy of a string of seven acquisitions.

But the £25m-revenue outfit has now taken delivery of a "significant acquisition fund" that it says will allow it to make "larger acquisition opportunities" in the areas of hosted, data or IT services.

GCP has taken a 50 per cent shareholding in the business as part of the investment but Arrow will continue to be led by Chris Russell and the current management team, operating from its five existing locations.

"I am delighted that GCP has become a major investor in our business and look forward to working in partnership with them in order to help Arrow continue to flourish. GCP has an excellent reputation for supporting SME businesses in the UK and we welcome their support, experience and enthusiasm," said Russell.

For its fiscal year ending 31 December 2015, Arrow posted a pre-tax profit of £1.7m on revenues that rose from £23.5m to £24.6m. It claims that the past few years has seen it transform from its mobile roots to a broader-based business comms supplier.

Richard Shaw, investment director at GCP, said: "We are delighted to have completed an investment to support the exciting growth plans of the Arrow management team. With a market position supported by exceptional levels of service differentiation and a proven buy-and-build track record, Arrow is ideally placed to benefit from continued business communication convergence. With our funding support and technology sector M&A experience we look forward to supporting the next stage of the buy-and-build strategy."