PE-backed Onecom acquires Russell Telecom

Deal marks fourth M&A move this year following acquisitions of Olive Communications, 9 Group and IP Office

Onecom has acquired Russell Telecom, marking the fourth acquisition this year for the cloud comms provider.

Based in the North East of England in Gateshead, Russell Telecom has been in business for more than 35 years, offering on-site and cloud phone systems, business broadband, mobile phones and managed support.

The business claims to cater for 1,500 customers, mainly across enterprise, hospitality, education, healthcare and not-for-profit organisations.

The transaction was supported by Onecom's private equity backer LDC, which provided the comms provider with £100m in investment in 2019 to fund future acquisitions.

The Russell Telecom deal is Onecom's fourth of the year and fifth since it received backing from LDC.

Hampshire-based Onecom acquired Olive Communications in February, which it claimed at the time created the UK's largest comms provider. The Vodafone, Mitel and Apple partner then went on to acquire 9 Group and IP Office later in the year.

"As we continue to grow, supported by LDC, we are delighted to welcome the Russell Telecom team and customers to Onecom. Our businesses are a perfect match and this transaction, our fourth in 2021, supports our strategy of acquiring strong businesses that share our culture, values and ethos and our commitment to providing exceptional products and solutions to UK businesses of all sizes," sad Onecom Group CEO Martin Flick in a statement.

"Russell has demonstrable strength in the education sector which is an excellent complement to our already existing specialisms that bring proximity to specific customer need in distinct markets.

"We are delighted to welcome Russell's long-established SME and enterprise customer base and its fantastic team into the Onecom family."