Comms Dealer

Claranet has pocketed a trio of acquisitions that extend its reach and capabilities across Europe and boost revenues by 40%. The IT services provider has also secured long-term financing and an incremental committed acquisition facility of £80m. The refinancing exercise also brought in new minority shareholders including Tikehau Capital which has invested alongside existing shareholders.

The three new acquisitions - Sec-1 in the UK, French IT firm Oxalide and Portugal-based ITEN Solutions - add security, DevOps, systems integration and IT services capabilities to the Claranet Group.

The expanded Group has annualised revenues of £310m, more than 1,800 employees and over 6,500 customers.

Charles Nasser, founder and CEO of the Claranet Group, stated: "Claranet's organic growth, combined with acquisitions, has meant we have established a significant operation in the managed IT services market at the European level. These latest acquisitions represent a significant step forward for Claranet.

"The refinancing, and these latest acquisitions, means that we are better positioned to meet the opportunities and challenges of a rapidly evolving technology services sector.

"We expect to see a continued consolidation of the European managed services market over the next 24 months and we are on a strong footing in all major markets in Western Europe to take advantage of this opportunity."

NFON UK's head honcho Rami Houbby has left the business to focus on a new venture, making way for incoming MD Myles Leach who worked alongside Houbby for two years.

Leach joined the firm as UK Business Development Director and was promoted to Strategic Channel Development Director prior to Houbby's exit.

He was previously MD of a successful telecoms reseller.

Hans Szymanski, Chief Executive Officer, NFON AG, stated: "Since Rami opened the NFON UK subsidiary in April 2013 the UK market has gone from strength to strength.

"NFON UK is set to have its best year ever in 2017. With Myles at the helm we are confident it will continue to go on to break even more records."

Advanced analytics, expanded ecosystems, the adoption of SaaS and managed services plus the prospect of punitive regulations are set to drive a 'dramatic transformation' in the security software market, according to Gartner.

"The overall security market is undergoing a period of disruption due to the rapid transition to cloud-based digital business and technology models that are changing how risk and security functions deliver value in an organisation," said Deborah Kish, Principal Research Analyst at Gartner.

"At the same time, the threat landscape and rise in the number of high impact security incidents are also creating demand for security technologies and innovations that deliver greater effectiveness."

Gartner says enterprises are increasingly seeking products that incorporate 'smarter' predictive and prescriptive analytic technologies.

These more advanced analytical capabilities are driven by a variety of underlying technologies, such as heuristics, artificial intelligence/machine learning and other techniques.

"Successful vendors will work with customers and prospects to understand use cases where analytics will deliver significant value and augment limited security staff and resources," added Kish.

She also noted that the EU General Data Protection Regulation will come into effect on 25th May 2018 and could see organisations facing heavy fines should they receive a complaint for mishandling private data.

"Punitive regulations will create board-level fears, driving security software budget decisions based on the potential financial impact of fines and noncompliance," added Kish.

"Consequently, organisations will look to providers with products that provide the needed visibility and control of their data.

"Providers should identify the key regulatory requirements and constraints in target geographies by working with legal counsel to deliver product and service choices that will alleviate board-level fears."

LA Connect's acquisition of Leicester-based comms firm Yello Communications extends its portfolio of telecoms products and services, including data and voice installation, network services and a maintenance service.

The deal is Windsor-based LA Connect's second acquisition and builds on its four year run of organic growth with turnover in excess of £24m expected in its next financial year.

Lee Waller, General Manager of LA Micro (part of LA Micro Group), said: "LA Micro is expanding its service offering having recently become a Microsoft Partner. Combining the experience, strength and product range of the two companies will broaden our offering and bring new opportunities for both companies."

The appointment of Dave Hudson as Managing Director of Zen's Wholesale division signals the culmination of the firm's strategy to establish a separate Wholesale business.

Zen's wholesale customers consume Layer 2 and managed wholesale broadband connectivity services via its network of over 400 on-net exchanges.?

"We need to have the mentality of a start-up because what we're doing is new for the company," said Hudson. "We want to put Zen on the map in the wholesale space and have the skills and the infrastructure to become a major player.??

"We're about to see another revolution in broadband connectivity. The next few years will see much wider adoption of ultrafast technologies such as FTTP and G.Fast, while FTTC will replace ADSL in becoming the norm."?

Oak's Executive partner James Emm has moved to a newly created position, Director of Strategic Partnerships, handing over the baton of National Sales Manager to Simon Colledge who has been with the company for 22 years, most recently as Area Sales Manager.

The leadership changes reflect Oak's sharpening focus on the mid-market.

"Stepping into James's shoes is going to be a challenge but it is one I'm excited about," said Colledge. "We have a number of plans in the pipeline and are looking at a 25% sales growth rate in the next two years."

Emm's new role is geared towards achieving this target by developing existing relationships and pursuing new partnerships.

He said: "We are in a strong position as a known and respected brand and I want to capitalise on the connections we already have, as well as seek out new and exciting opportunities."

Cloud comms provider NFON AG has collected the 2017 European Frost & Sullivan award for Growth Excellence Leadership following growth at above the market average in the European hosted IP telephony and UCaaS market.

Elka Popova, Vice President at Frost & Sullivan, said: "With its strong position in the German market NFON now strives to continue this success in the European market."

Hans Szymanski, CEO of NFON AG, said: "In addition to the German market we have successfully launched operations in Austria, Croatia, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, and the UK. Services in the Portuguese market will be launched in the second quarter of 2017 which will be followed by Italy in the third quarter of this year."

TalkTalk Business has added a multi-platform mobile application to its Hosted Voice product in preparation for a near tipping point in workplace mobility.

The company cited a report by The Work Foundation which says that within three years 70% of people will work away from the office just as much as they work at their desk.

In preparation for this future working environment TalkTalk Business has introduced MiCollab, a UC application based on Mitel technology that enables users to access the same functionality from a PC, laptop, desk phone or smartphone.

An optional Skype for Business plugin means that TalkTalk Business partners can more easily provide enterprise-class voice within the Skype for Business platform.

Workers can download the app directly from the Android, iOS, BlackBerry and Windows application stores.

Guy Miller, Director of Trading at TalkTalk Business, commented: "Businesses have long been looking for ways to improve their productivity while also providing much more flexibility for their increasingly mobile workforce.

"More and more firms are finding that for their employees work is an activity rather than a place to be. They expect to be able to work from any location with the same level of access and connectivity as if they were in the office.

"With the introduction of the Unified Communication feature set to our Hosted Voice platform, TalkTalk Business is allowing Partners to cater for evolving working practices while also providing telephony which is secure and reliable."

TalkTalk Business is a Mitel Platinum partner.

Elitetele.com CEO Matt Newing has set up a Just Giving page where people can donate funds towards helping the Manchester Arena victims and their families.

The company has a strong presence in Manchester and aims to raise £25,000. "Once the target has been met we will decide where the monies will be distributed to make sure it helps those people who need it the most," said Newing.

At present the total raised is almost £11,000.

If you would like to donate please visit
www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/we-stand-united-for-manchester

The merger of Sonus Networks and Genband creates a new force in next generation communications networking with increased scale and market reach across products, customers and geographies. The joint entity has an enterprise value of circa $745m with Sonus and Genband shareholders each own approximately 50% of the combined company.  

The transaction brings together Sonus' expertise in real-time communication virtualisation, cloud-based SIP and 4G/voice-over LTE solutions and security initiatives, with Genband's UC, mobility and embedded communications solutions. 

The two companies' combined 2016 revenue and EBITDA would have been approximately $680 million and $50 million, respectively, on a combined basis which excludes synergies and is prior to any impact from purchase accounting.

The combined company is expected to realise annual cost synergies of $40 million to $50 million by the end of 2018 and to drive solid cash flow from operations in the first year after closing. 

Following the full impact of expected annualized synergies, the combined company is expected to generate at least $100 million in annual EBITDA, with fiscal year 2020 EBITDA projected to be approximately $140 million.

Raymond Dolan, President and Chief Executive Officer of Sonus, said:  "The transaction is expected to generate significant near- and long-term value for shareholders, who we believe will benefit from their ownership in a combined company with increased scale and resources to invest in and accelerate each company's growth initiatives. 

"This is a strategically and financially compelling transaction for Sonus and we are confident that together with GENBAND we will achieve our growth initiatives faster and more fully than either company could do on its own."

David Walsh, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Genband, added: "Like Sonus, Genband has transitioned its business to support this industry shift and we have seen improving profitability over the last couple of years and into 2017."