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26 MSP Mergers and Acquisitions: The European Deal List

MSPs, technology consulting firms, systems integrators and cloud service providers continue to complete merger and acquisition (M&A) deals across Europe. ChannelE2E has covered dozens of such deals -- with a heavy emphasis on managed IT services providers -- in recent years.

Here's a sampling of European business combinations that we've tracked:

26. July 2019: Backed by private equity, Connect Managed Services and G3 Comms merge to form an MSP with roughly $69 million in annual revenue (£55 million).

25. July 2019: Private equity firm Primary Capital Partners acquired ASL Group, a provider of managed print services and unified communications in the United Kingdom.

24. June 2019: Fifosys acquired fellow British MSP Foration.

23. February 2019: Luxembourg telecommunications provider Firstcom Europe acquired Bolton, England-based communications specialist Telesis.

22. January 2019:DXC Technology acquired the Microsoft Dynamics 365 technology services business of EG A/S. The acquired business is based in Denmark.

21. January 2019: NEC acquired IT service provider KMD for $1.2 billion, or about About 10X EBITDA for 2017.

20. October 2018: Irish IT services provider Triangle acquired Kerna Communications, a local cybersecurity, networking, and MSP.

19. September 2018: AdEPT acquired Shift F7 Group, uniting two UK managed IT services.

18. September 2018: Trilogy Technologies Group acquired Zinopy Security, an IT cybersecurity and workspace virtualization solutions provider.

17. September 2018: Infosys acquired Fluido, a Salesforce cloud consulting, implementation and training partner with reach across Europe.

16. August 2018: Peach Technologies acquired Taylor Made Computer Solutions (TMCS), creating one of the United Kingdom’s largest independent managed IT services providers (MSPs).

15. June 2018: Diversified of New Jersey acquired Digitavia — a United Kingdom-based provider of standardized AV (audio visual) solutions and support services.

14. June 2018: Irish IT firm Version 1 acquired London HR Transformation, an Oracle cloud services partner, making it Version 1’s sixth buyout of a UK business.

13. May 2018: An MSP in Bristol, England called ComputerWorld completed a management buyout.

12. March 2018: Exigent Networks, Irish Telecom and Netforce merged under a new corporate brand called Paradyn.

11. December 2017: CyrusOne acquired Zenium's European data centers for a lofty 18-times annualized adjusted EBITDA — though the valuation figure includes several qualifiers.

10. September 2017: Solar Communications, a midmarket managed and cloud services provider in the UK, acquired TWL Voice and Data Limited (TWL) for an undisclosed sum.

9. August 2017: Cloud services provider Evolve IP acquired Mtel, a communications services firm with reach into Western Europe, particularly in the Netherlands & Germany.

8. April 2017: Chess Ltd. acquired Foursys, a 10-year Sophos cybersecurity partner. The deal added more than £11m to Chess’s turnover, bringing it to £120m.

7. April 2017: Ireland-based Microsoft cloud and Dell EMC partner EMIT acquired Softech for an undisclosed sum.

6. January 2017: GCI of the UK acquired Freedom Communications, a Microsoft Skype for Business and unified communications specialist.

5. December 2016: CMI acquired Solsis Ltd., an MSP that supports about 2,500 end-users around the south of England, including London.

4. December 2016: GoDaddy acquired Host Europe Group (HEG) for $1.79 billion or roughly 11 times EBITDA. GoDaddy’s HEG buyout focuses on SMB customers.

3. December 2016: TDC Erhverv, a telecom provider with hosting and cloud expertise, acquired Adactic, a Danish cloud services firm that promotes Office 365.

2. December 2016: Columbus Global acquired Cambridge Online Systems, a Microsoft Dynamics 365 channel partner based in the United Kingdom.

1. September 2016: Ensono acquired Attenda, a UK-based MSP.

Joe Panettieri

Joe Panettieri is co-founder & editorial director of MSSP Alert and ChannelE2E, the two leading news & analysis sites for managed service providers in the cybersecurity market.