Following their recent acquisition of Microsoft Gold Partner, Highlander Computing Solutions, FluidOne continues its growth strategy with its latest purchase of projectfive, an award-winning Surrey based IT services provider that supports SMEs across Surrey, Berkshire and Hampshire.
FluidOne is building on its strategy to invest in regional IT MSPs to create a branch network, with the acquisition of projectfive marking its fourth addition. In turn, this latest investment has created a £30 million revenue Business IT Centre of Excellence (CoE) for FluidOne, with 930 customers and 134 employees and four branch offices led from Highlander’s Sheffield headquarters.
Russell Horton, FluidOne CFO, commented: “When reviewing [projectfive], I was impressed with the excellent service they deliver and the strength of relationships that the team build with their clients. This was reinforced by great customer feedback in our survey and a world class NPS of 80. They are a great fit to our strategy…”
projectfive Founder and MD, Steve Coburn, added: “This is an exciting chapter in the projectfive journey; when we first started having discussions with Russell, it was clear that our companies shared a common culture and values and a commitment to delivering great service. The FluidOne portfolio will broaden the service offering to our existing customers and the acquisition offers fantastic career opportunities to the project five team.”
Hazlewoods Corporate Finance team worked with FluidOne on this acquisition, with Associate Partner, James Whittaker, and Manager, Cameron Powell, providing financial and taxation due diligence.
James Whittaker commented: “With this being the second transaction to have supported FluidOne with this year, it is exciting to see their growth plans really take off, and further amplifies their business network mission and goals. We wish both them and projectfive the best going forward.”
FluidOne CFO, Roy Hastings, said: “The Hazlewoods team provided some excellent advice once again which greatly assisted with our assessment of the opportunity and the structure of the deal. They were with us every step of the way, enabling us to feel confident in the assessment of the transaction, from start to finish.”
If you are considering buying a business, selling your company or are looking for ways to finance your growth plans and would like to find out more about the process, please contact James Whittaker on 01242 680000 or email james.whittaker@hazlewoods.co.uk.
