Wavenet celebrates new year with purchase of Microsoft Teams specialist

Comms provider says the acquisition will bolster its Office 365 and Teams expertise

Wavenet has snapped up Nottingham-based Microsoft Teams specialist VIA Smart Hosted Solutions for an undisclosed fee.

VIA was established in 2012 and claimed to be the UK's largest Skype for Business provider before transitioning to Microsoft Teams as its popularity "exploded" in the past 12 months.

Solihull-based comms provider Wavenet said the addition of VIA will boost its Office 365 capabilities and bolster its Teamslink unified comms service, which it claims puts it in an "enviable position" in the market.

"Since starting VIA in 2012 it has been incredibly exciting, driving the business through several years of Microsoft UC evolution, from Lync to Skype for Business and now Teams," stated Alex Tebbs, co-founder and sales director of VIA.

"The acquisition by Wavenet is the next stage in this journey and provides existing and new customers with an enormous opportunity to get even more out of Microsoft Teams by leveraging the additional products and services Wavenet are able to offer.

"VIA's unique management portal and service will be made even better through the integration with Wavenet's networking, security and technology services in order to provide the leading Microsoft Teams solution available."

Wavenet was bought by Beech Tree Private Equity in 2016 for £35m and acquired APR Technologies and Solar Communications in 2018, when it also secured £75m in financing to continue this M&A activity.

It reported a turnover of £23m for its year ending 30 April 2018.

"VIA is an exciting addition to the Wavenet group that brings highly valuable expertise and a passion for innovation that we are always looking for. Its combination with the wider Wavenet group will accelerate our growth in our flagship TeamsLink product," stated Wavenet CCO Philip Grannum.

"VIA has been extremely successful in building the platform and management portal for their Microsoft Teams services and we are looking forward to integrating their brilliant platform into ours to the benefit of all our customers and partners.

"We are delighted to welcome the VIA team into the Wavenet group and I'm personally excited to see our Teams presence grow from strength to strength."