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Morning round up | Published on 04/10/10
AltNet scales up with Scalable Communications and Focus Solutions completes its journey
Alternative Networks has made its long awaited acquisition in the managed data services space, buying fast-growing Scalable Communications for an initial £7.5m cash at an estimated 5-6x 2010 EBITDA, which will considerably enhance AltNet’s data capabilities and provide cross selling opportunities. Our chat this morning with CFO Ed Spurrier suggests that this is certainly not the end of AltNet’s M&A ambitions, with plenty of firepower left in the bank. Premium subscribers can read our full review in Newswire Plus.
Focus Solutions completes transition to software vendor in emphatic style
Supplier of multi-channel distribution software to the financial services sector Focus Solutions has announced this morning a highly significant contract both in terms of its size and what it says about the company’s attempts to transform from IT services to software vendor. The contract, which is with an unnamed major UK based bank (not HSBC which is already a significant customer), will deliver up to £20m in revenue and substantial profits to Focus over the five year life of the contract.
BT wins Scilly broadband tender
BT has been awarded a major, publicly-subsidised contract to fibre Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. Although BT faced competition from the likes of Vtesse and Geo (Premium Plus readers see our profiles here and here), it was always in a strong position given that it enjoyed monopoly access to poles and ducts and favourable backhaul facilities. Read the full story in Newswire Plus.
Fixed Line Peer Group Report - October 2010
We published on Friday our regular review of the Fixed Line sector; highlights for September included strong share price performances virtually across the board, good results from Maintel and SpiriTel, continued private equity interest in the sector with ECI’s acquisition of XLN at an estimated multiple greater than quoted peers, and a £0.45m fund raising by Pinnacle. Despite the strong share price performance, the Fixed Line sector continues to trade at a significant discount to the broader megabuyte universe of c150 companies, at 5.3x current year EBITDA and 10.6x PE. Premium subscribers can download the full report here.
Is private equity taking over from equity capital markets once again?
Having re-opened for what turned out to be a rather brief window in Q1, the IPO market in London (and elsewhere) seems to be all but shut once again. There are some in the market who believe (hope) that some IPOs will get away in Q4 but we’re not that confident. Whilst the FTSE 100 may have held up reasonably well, sentiment in the City has dampened substantially over the summer and trading volumes are well down. Also, whilst there are some examples of successful IPOs such as EMIS, poorly performing IPOs such as Ocado and, closer to home, Promethean have left a bad taste in the mouth.
The contrast therefore could not be more marked with the resurgence of private equity deals in the last few months. In this piece, we examine the underlying causes for this change of fortune and look at what it means for financing mid-market companies going forward. Premium subscribers can read it in our Sector Commentary section here and Premium Plus subscribers may also be interested to review recent Megabuyte coverage of private equity deals by following these links.
Sophos switches from IPO tack as Apax takes majority stake
Hg’s Visma exit underscores resurgence of mid market private equity
Manx Telecom sold to private equity
Host Europe swaps private equity owners
XLN becomes ECI vehicle for consolidating UK business telecoms market
More recent round-ups
- Logica appoints Keating to run Benelux and InternetQ follows Velti and Globo
- Norcon warns, Bango raises funds, and Redstone sells
- Torex coming out the other side and slow contract closure hits Misys
- AMQ decline hits Micro Focus, and M-PESA mobile money goes from strength to strength
- Positive Daisy and TIG results, a Focus bid, and Cambridge Broadband fundraising
- Amino’s Italian job and confident AltNet restates M&A intent
- Workplace SaaS strategy coming good and we initiate on Clearswift
- Daisy’s very healthy acquisition and System C reassures
- SaaS strategy emerging at Sage and Anite’s 4G driven first half
- Positive signs from Sanderson and GB and we initiate on Cambridge Broadband
- A transformational deal for Brady and we talk Cloud with Phoenix and Iomart
- Digital Barriers raises next round and sales closure delays hamper Patsystems
- Autonomy’s lack of deal news disappoints and we assess the outlook for SRT and PicoChip
- Accelerated growth for Ffastfill and we analyse Azzurri’s results
- Telecom Plus powers on, and Kcom to double shareholder returns
- RM looks to international markets and Ubisense and PicoChip raise fresh funds
- Vislink’s major portfolio rejig, and Ousourcery’s gain was C&W’s loss
- K3 builds MS capability with Panacea and a positive parting shot from DiData
- XLN’s excellent FY10, and Velti 9 month revenues and cash burn up strongly
- Strong interims from ACS prompt upgrades and CWW suffers at hands of UK mid market resellers
- Upbeat Eckoh to pay dividend, and CSF’s sale and leaseback-boosted profits
- Misys to buy Sophis and we review a strong quarter for UK mobile operators
- Cisco stock slips on weak outlook and BT raises guidance after good Q2
- Daisy consolidates rival consolidator SpiriTel, whilst Micro Focus suffers mixed trading
- A brighter future for Vodafone and Bach to leave Kewill
- Anite reports on a strong first half and Redstone turns buyer
- Lumison’s £100m buy and build ambition and Amor gets going on M&A plans
- Spirent sees pick up in LTE and we analyse Atex’s 2009 accounts
- Insipid recovery at Logica underlines weak positioning and a polarised performance from Alterian
- Arqiva attracts even more red ink and SRT reports bumper interims
- Telecity announces 7% capacity increase, whilst Iomart grows hosting revenues 25% through Titan buy
- Microsoft’s record quarter and musings on mVOIP
- Percello read across for PicoChip, and a rant about Promethean’s IPO
- Virgin ups the broadband ante and Equinix beats (lowered) guidance
- Bango’s update of two halves and SmartFocus parts company with CEO
- i3 Group’s big bet on fibre, and eServGlobal to return bulk of Oracle cash to shareholders
- Unicom’s stonkingly good results, and Sky continues to grab telecoms share
- COLT strikes a more cautious tone and is Bond building on sand?
- CWW signs PS MoU with HMG and Lagan recovery rewarded
- Apple and IBM like apples and pears and football shirts impact cash flow at Autonomy
- BT avoids heavy public sector cuts and Redstone sells maintenance businesses to Maintel
- Unequivocal recovery message from Computacenter and NCC makes decisive move in the US
- Multiple mobile stories from Monitise, Probability, Synchronica and Crimson Tide
- Storming results from Datatec and a slimmed down Instem returns to the market
- Star Internet’s less than stallar performance and Aveva sees continuing patterns
- Azzurri’s new CEO on growth, strategy and debt refinancing, and we initiate on GCI Telecom
- The quietest of Fridays and we add two new companies
- Autonomy and Daisy’s M&A ambitions examined
- Acision raises $100m from existing backers and Equinix shares hammered by (modest) warning
- Solution1 the latest to go the private equity route and Ffastfill in line at half time
- AltNet scales up with Scalable Communications and Focus Solutions completes its journey
- Redstone’s emerging new strategic direction and what next for ACS’s valuation?
- Velti’s numbers all over the place and Redstone spring clean continues
- Banking still a problem child for Misys and Zamano starting to stabilise
- Iris Software delivers robust 2010 results and ECI backs XLN as consolidation platform
- Hg’s Visma exit highlights resurgent private equity and System C strikes a more upbeat tone
- CSG’s £237m bid for Intec and Sophos reports continued growth
- Resilient NBT turns in another strong year and Ubiquisys looks to Asia for latest funding round
- No sign of a slowdown for Allocate and Black invests in Pinnacle
- Dealogic sees caution returning to capital markets and we review (another) flat year for Midland
- Freedom Communications’ managed services aspirations and RM successfully through busy summer
- Oracle focuses to become a one stop shop and there’s no stopping Blackberry (at least for now)
- 3UK’s £2,077 net debt per subscriber and Anite’s continuing long term evolution
- Host Europe swaps private equity owners and we initiate on Snell
- EMIS looks forward to EMIS Web roll out after solid H1 and PicoChip reports strong year
- K3 outperforms and Norkom warns
- More details on 1st The Exchange and how falling costs are driving femtocell and m2m deployment
- Profits ahead of expectations at ACS and TIG lands a biggie
- EMIS receives approval for EMIS Web and Vodafone exits China Mobile
- Phillips appointed at Micro Focus and XLN’s micro focus
- Craneware’s healthy results and the medicine is finally working for Kofax
- More fun with femtocells and we ask - will US Telcos ever learn?
- SRT on the crest of a wave but tougher times for Distribution Technology
- Chess not yet bored with acquisitions and Alterian builds in social media
- A brace of dire Aussie results and we spot Hawkins’ departure from Atex
- Computacenter confirms project rebound and we opine on mobile M&A
- Hello to Airwave and Amor and goodbye to WIN
- Growing momentum for Monitise and Interxion posts strong Q2
- Redstone’s fresh start and Clinical Solutions enjoys a better year
- What we missed in the last two weeks
- Logica pleases market with dividend move and 3UK still going nowhere
- Spirent results support Anite’s confidence and OLM looking for a stronger 2010
- Azzurri now focussed on growth and restructuring starts to bear fruit for Maxima
- Emphatic return to growth for SDL and they think it may all be over for WIN
- Fidessa pegged back by uncertain market and Telecity goes from strength to strength
- Momentum builds for Digital Barriers and Talk Talk suffers from lack of TV
- Global results season in full swing and BT’s ‘business as usual’ start to the year
- Virgin Media has best Q2 for years, and Nick Bray turns up at Sophos
- Mixed performance from Misys and we detect rumblings on the Sage board
- RM provides detail on impact of BSF cuts and the battle for WIN takes another turn
- Contrasting fortunes for Vodafone, Microsoft and Nokia, and Digital Barriers’ 2nd Buy
- Ofcom’s pole dancing and Autonomy’s pleasing cash conversion
- Apple shrugs off PR disaster and Promethean splashes some IPO cash
- CWW waylaid by public sector cuts, and Mobile peer group report published
- WIN receives indicative offer from ECI/MIG, and in-line updates from Kewill and Brady
- Vtesse’s broad ambitions and Sage CEO speculation proves true
- NTT bids for Dimension Data and Sage speculation
- EMIS shares wobble and Montanana backs news network security roll-up
- Monitise and Ubiquisys raise funds and Computacenter updates
- Solution1 IPO plans well advanced and Avanti taps investors for another £70m
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