Charterhouse boss: 'We will absolutely make more acquisitions this year'
Mark Brooks-Wadham reveals further M&A plans to CRN and why the UC market is seeing so much consolidation lately
Charterhouse Voice and Data will "absolutely" continue its M&A spree this year, according to CEO Mark Brooks-Wadham.
The unified comms (UC) specialist last week acquired Symity and Digital Product Exchange having previously acquired Lloyds Business Communications and NETconnection in January of last year after receiving backing from private equity firm August Equity in 2018.
"We would absolutely expect to see more acquisition this year - we won't be waiting 12 months to do another couple of deals," Brooks-Wadham told CRN, adding that any further purchases will be UK companies that could add skills in cybersecurity or UC as well as adding geographical reach.
"We absolutely want to grow organically and through acquisition. But what's really important here is that it's not an acquisition for acquisition's sake.
"If you look at the three that we've made so far, they've brought great networking capability, geographical reach or Microsoft capabilities to us. So it's about strategically helping us to develop the business and what we want to be for our customers."
He added that the pandemic acted as a "catalyst" for filling the Microsoft-shaped gap in its portfolio, eventually leading to the purchase of Reading-based Symity.
"We saw that gap in our portfolio around Microsoft and knew that it was something that we really needed to develop," he explained.
"It's fair to say when March and April hit last year, that really sped up the necessity to get on board with Microsoft. We were already having conversations, from the point of view of wanting to be at the forefront of what our clients needed, but it then suddenly became an absolute must-have as opposed to something that was about gaining momentum."
Brooks-Wadham founded the unified comms provider in 1993. It reported revenues of £23.8m for its year ending 30 November 2019, but the chief exec said its most recent year has seen that figure jump to over £50m. He now anticipates to be hit around £60m to £70m by the end of calendar 2021 and has £100m in his sights over the next couple of years.
"It's acquisitions that will make a difference for us," he stated.
"Over the next few years I would expect us to grow to £100m and that growth will come both organically and through acquisition. Will we continue to acquire at the same rate? Absolutely, but for strategic reasons, not just for growth's sake.
"There are some really interesting opportunities out there in the marketplace at the moment and we encourage anyone who thinks they might be relevant to us to reach out because we are acquisitive at the moment."
The UC sector has seen a frenzy of M&A in recent months with fellow August Equity-backed MSP Air-IT undergoing an acquisition spree of its own and Babble's CEO telling CRN last week that it was planning on making 10 acquisitions this year alone.
Why is the unified comms market seeing so much consolidation right now?
Brooks-Wadham attributed it to the resiliency of the businesses, the adaptability of the market and secure revenue streams.
"If you combine those and look at who's been investing in the market, I think potentially some areas where they may have invested traditionally are no longer probably available, such as hospitality or travel," he elaborated.
"Whereas the UC space has weathered it pretty well. The proposition and the services that they're providing are very salient to a marketplace, both in the good times and in the difficult times. Our ability to help people operate more efficiently has meant it is in more demand at the moment."
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