Onyx focuses on providing cloud, colocation, remote and on-site IT management, workplace recovery, applications management and security solutions to customers. Backed by mid-market private equity firm Livingbridge in 2011, it now has five datacentres in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Sheffield and Newcastle, and other business continuity centres and offices around the UK. The company’s staff, technology platforms and infrastructure will be integrated with Pulsant’s over the coming months.
The combined business will have almost 400 staff, revenues of £75m and over 4,000 customers in a variety of industries. Its operations are underpinned by a network of 15 owned and operated datacentres across in the UK.
The acquisition will add to Pulsant’s capabilities as a provider of hybrid IT services — particularly in the areas of applications management, remote and on-site managed services, workplace recovery and security — and expand its reach in the UK to deliver more options for resiliency and a stronger portfolio of solutions to customers.
“Bringing Onyx and its capabilities into Pulsant is the latest step in our targeted acquisition strategy. The acquisition increases the scale of our business and the breadth of services we can offer, which is crucial as multi-cloud environments become more complex and more important,” says Pulsant CEO Mark Howling.
Neil Stephenson, Onyx CEO, comments: “We have known Pulsant for many years and always felt that combining Onyx and Pulsant would provide a very strong UK-wide player. Both businesses have complementary capabilities and locations, and this acquisition enables the enlarged business to offer a stronger, broader range of services to our joint customers. The cultures of our two organisations are also very similar, which was a big factor in selecting Pulsant as the acquirer.”
This acquisition marks a significant milestone in the development of Pulsant, and is its first major acquisition since Oak Hill and Scottish Equity Partners became Pulsant’s major shareholders in July 2014. As the business moves into its next stage of development, the company has also announced that it has appointed Mike Tobin, OBE, as chairman. Tobin was previously CEO at Telecity for 13 years, overseeing its growth from a market cap of £6m to £1.6bn, and floating it on the London Stock Exchange in 2007.
Howling says: “Mike has an excellent reputation in the industry, a broad understanding of the datacentre and cloud markets and experience of growing businesses in the UK and overseas. I am delighted that he has agreed to become our chairman, which is a significant signal of Pulsant’s quality and ambitions.”
Pieter Knook, Pulsant’s existing chairman, will continue to serve on the board as deputy chairman.