Comms VARs unite as Focus Group acquires swcomms

PE-backed Focus Group acquires Cisco, Mitel and Gamma partner swcomms

Focus Group has acquired swcomms to create a comms powerhouse in the south of England.

Ranked #64 in CRN's VAR 350 with £69.9m revenues, West Sussex-based Focus Group received a £150m war chest from private equity backer Bowmark Capital last year.

Acquiring Devon-based swcomms will help Focus Group to accelerate its growth in the South West of the UK, it claims.

Swcomms, ranked #189 in CRN's VAR 350 with a turnover of £21.3m.

The Cisco, Gamma, Mitel and Ruckus partner was founded in 1983 and is now a business with more than 100 staff.

The acquisition came about after swcomms' chairman and CEO Tony Rowe announced his retirement from the business.

The Devon-based company will continue to operate under its existing branding. Its current management team and employees will continue to run the business from its head office in Exeter after signing another long-term lease on the building.

"I'm delighted to welcome swcomms to the Focus Group family. They have built a wonderful business over the past 38 years," said Focus Group co-founder Ralph Gilbert.

With their vast range of solutions, experience in datacentre technology, their culture and management team, I'm excited to unite with swcomms to accelerate growth in the South West of the UK.

"I'm thrilled to be able to connect more customers, our people and communities together"

Managing director of swcomms, Brian Lodge added: "There is a perfect fit between the two companies with an amazing synergy in what we do. We will benefit hugely from working with Focus. Together, we will be more competitive, and we plan to grow the business significantly in the next few years.

"Our staff and customers are at the heart of everything we do, and this is very much mirrored at Focus Group. Delivering a better service is our top priority. Being part of the Focus Group will give us all the wider benefits of a £100 million turnover business while still allowing us to maintain a local and personal service to our customers by utilising the commitment and expertise of our wonderful staff."

CRN View

The unified comms space has seen the most consolidation in the channel as of late than any other technology field. The pace of acquisitions was strong in 2020 but has been kicked up a notch in 2021. Several key players in the UK have taken on private equity backing since the start of 2020 including Arrow Communications, BSL and Babble.

Firms including Charterhouse, Babble and Maintel have pledged to power on with more M&A in 2021 as they see an opportunity to scale up their operations across the UK.

The Covid crisis has brought unified comms into sharp focus for the channel's customers and Focus Group's acquisition of swcomms is yet another example of how the pandemic is playing its part in driving consolidation in the channel. We should also expect unified comms VARs to be driving M&A in adjacent technology fields over the next 12 months such as cybersecurity or cloud services. We've already seen this happen with Charterhouse acquiring cybersecurity firm Pentesec.

Another factor pushing consolidation forward is potential reforms to capital gains tax, which will mean entrepreneurs could see increased taxes on any assets they sell that have increased in value. Uncertainty over whether capital gains tax will increase is prompting more businesses to think about selling now rather than later.