British-based Connect Managed Services has made two significant acquisitions on two different continents.
The first is UK-based CoolHarbour, a specialist customer engagement and unified communications consultancy and system integrator that pioneered the adoption of Amazon Connect - AWS’s on-demand contact center service in Europe.
The company also bought the assets and technical teams of U.S.-based UVN.
Financial terms of the deals were not disclosed.
The Buyout Targets
CoolHarbour was founded by Faraz Khan, Jamshaid Anwar, and Wajahat Khan in 2014 with a focus on providing next-generation call center technology to a blue-chip customer base. The entire CoolHarbour team will join Connect, bringing their experience with Microsoft cloud communications and AWS.
Anwar will take the lead in the company’s attempt to drive adoption of Amazon Connect and its related services amongst Connect’s global user community, the company said. Amazon Connect is a cloud-based, self-service call center tool that is aimed at disrupting the call center industry.
“There is growing interest in Amazon Connect and we are already seeing a shift to AWS within our own client community, with a number moving, some or all, of their IT applications to this environment,” said Alex Tupman, CEO Connect Managed Services.
UVN, meanwhile, is a technical and engineering support specialist that works with blue-chip enterprises stateside. The deal will bolster Connect’s presence in the United States, according to Tupman.
“The UVN deal provides invaluable, technical engineering & customer support to our overall capabilities in this important market,” he said. “These will help to underpin Connect's geographical footprint and ambitious expansion plans in North America. We firmly believe both these acquisitions provide a win-win situation for everyone involved.”
Connect's M&A Experience
Connect isn't new to the M&A market. Last year the company acquired PC-I, which manages some of the largest contact centers in the UK. Both deals were backed by mid-market private equity investor, LDC.
In June 2017, Connect reported a 39% increase in turnover and a 240% increase in profits (EBITDA) for the 12 months to December 2016 over the previous financial year. The company now boasts Advanced Technology Partner (ATP) status with Cisco.
