Telecoms firm Onecom is set to grow 鈥 and may even swallow up other firms 鈥 after securing a 拢100million private equity funding package.
The Hampshire-headquartered company has received the investment from private equity firm LDC and credit funds managed by an affiliate of Ares Management Corporation.
It will use the cash to help meet 鈥渟ignificant growth plans鈥, In the next three to five years the firm expect to increase the workforce substantially, invest in systems and processes that ready the business for scale, and make acquisitions.
Onecom said it is in a position to take advantage of opportunities presented through continued convergence in the communications sector and expansion of digital infrastructure, including the roll-out of 5G and superfast fibre.
Ben Dowd, Onecom chief executive, said: 鈥淚鈥檓 delighted LDC have backed the Onecom management team to pursue our growth strategy over the next few years. This investment will help accelerate Onecom鈥檚 growth organically and inorganically.
鈥淭he opportunities that exist for Onecom are significant both from a partnership and an acquisitive perspective.
"Onecom has a proven track record of delivering growth and this approach will now be super charged. The market is ripe for consolidation and Onecom can play a big role in this across mobile and fixed solutions where there is a huge number of resellers.鈥
Onecom manages nearly 100,000 business customers, delivering communication services and unified solutions across fixed line voice, connectivity and cloud computing to some of the 海角视频 companies including Farrow & Ball, Thwaites, Celtic Manor and 118 海角视频 Ltd.
Its partners include Samsung, Apple, Gamma, Mitel and Virtual1 and it recently announced a five-year deal with Vodaphone that will be worth up to 拢600million.
Onecom, which has doubled revenues in the past five years, is headquartered in Fareham, and employs 400 people across 10 regional offices including Plymouth, Cardiff, Norwich, Belfast, Brighton, Telford and Leeds.
Meanwhile, Mark Thompson has been named as the new chairman. He is formerly boss of MDNX which, trading as Easynet, sold to Interoute for 拢402Million in 2015. Since then, Mr Thompson has successfully supported several boards, including G3 Comms.
Onecom founder Darren Ridge remains in the business as a non-executive director.
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Mr Dowd said: 鈥淚 am delighted Darren will stay in the business. His experience of Onecom and the market will be invaluable to me. I am very excited to work with LDC, Darren, Mark and of course my management team to deliver this growth over the next 3-5 years.鈥
Mr Ridge, who founded Onecom in 2002, said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 great to get LDC鈥檚 backing and support for our vision. Under Ben and the management team鈥檚 leadership, we will see the business grow substantially over the next five years.鈥
The investment was led by LDC head of London Yann Souillard, who will take a place on the board as non-executive director, and said: 鈥淭he role of communications in driving business growth and productivity is well-understood. Onecom occupies a unique position in the business telecommunications market, offering a truly converged solution with the market鈥檚 leading operators and equipment manufacturers.
鈥淲hat鈥檚 more, Ben and the management team have a clear vision and ambition for the business and a credible plan to deliver it. We鈥檙e excited to be part of that journey.鈥
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LDC鈥檚 recent investments includie texthelp, MSQ Partners, Amberjack, Littlefish and Evolution Funding. It has backed 600 management teams over more than 35 years and has 拢1.2billionn to invest across the 海角视频 mid-market in the next three years.聽
The telecoms sector is enjoying rapid growth due to the continued convergence of communications services, the growth of the data economy and the 海角视频鈥檚 expanding digital infrastructure.
Telecoms is and will remain a vital service for 海角视频 businesses. Between now and 2022, business-to-business mobile spend is set to increase by around 4% a year.
SMEs spend as much as 拢16billion a year on telecoms and connectivity. It鈥檚 a huge and growing market that Onecom operates in and is well placed to serve
