Connexus Case History
Industry specialists Evolution Capital are delighted to have advised the shareholders of Connexus on their sale to Windsor Telecom. Working closely with the business over a period of months, Windsor was identified through a competitive process as an excellent suitor to achieve our clients' aspirations and provide a fitting home for the Connexus business.
Background to Connexus
Founded in 2005, Connexus deliver, manage and supply complete end-to-end unified communications, IT and connectivity solutions across the UK. The founders, Gulam Patel and Matthew Sainty were passionate about delivering solutions to ensure their customers’ businesses run smoothly and securely.
Connexus is based in Gloucestershire and has grown organically, managing and maintaining over 700 sites as a leading regional provider of unified communications and IT solutions, holding Gamma Gold Partner status, and being a Microsoft Azure specialist. Additionally, the business has achieved ISO9001 and ISO27001 certification for all business and security processes.
Selecting an advisor
Evolution Capital has developed a well-established and trusting relationship with the shareholders of Connexus since 2021, initially providing an objective strategic review of the business and allowing the shareholders to make data-driven decisions with regard to their direction,services and eventual exit plan moving forward.
Approaching 20 years since its establishment, the founders and additional shareholders of Connexus decided the time was right to seek to realise maximum value from their investment in the business and engaged Evolution Capital’s transaction experts to advise them through a sale process. Connexus has gained a solid reputation for exceptional customer service and being an extremely well-organised, process-driven, managed comms and ICT solutions business. Unsurprisingly, when meticulously prepared detailed transaction documentation,identifying intrinsic value, was presented to the right potential acquirers,the business attracted numerous high-quality offers from targeted and well-funded suitors.
Understandably, the shareholders of Connexus were eager to find the right buyer for the business and, with the advice of Evolution Capital, were able to secure successful outcomes in the sale of the business to Windsor Telecom, a growing buyer in the space.
Advice, planning and preparation
Robust preparation at Evolution Capital is a pivotal tool to consistently achieving success. The Evolution team takes great pride in its comprehensive understanding of businesses and buyers within the sector landscape: from detailed analysis of management accounts, billing and customer data, revenue streams,quality of earnings, recurring gross profit, maintainable EBITDA, and valuation metrics, to ensuring a business is sold to the optimal buyer with a sufficiently detailed understanding so that they may seamlessly integrate a business and capitalise on strategic value and identified opportunities.
Though Windsor and Connexus share many synergies, as represented in our robust analysis, it was also the additional IT capability offered by the Connexus technical team which further cemented interest for Windsor management.
Successful outcomes
Following the successful completion of the sale of Connexus,Managing Director and co-founder Gulam Patel commented;
“We would personally like to thank the Evolution team for your guidance and ensuring we achieved the maximum shareholder value. I can honestly say without your experience and help we would have never achieved that.”
Pete Tomlinson, CEO at Windsor Telecom also added;
“Today is an important milestone for Connexus and Windsor Telecom; I hope both teams share my sense of excitement and opportunity as we bring two super complementary businesses and teams together. Collectively, this gives us a broader set of skills, capability and scale to better serve all our customers, together with additional opportunities for the combined team – so is good news all round!”
Duncan Gregory, Transaction Services Director, who managed the project commented: “We are delighted to have achieved this outstanding outcome for our client. Connexus generated a great deal of interest through the process, and we are incredibly pleased with the results our client has realised. Having first worked with the shareholders some years prior, providing them with essential preparation advice, it has been a pleasure assisting them on the transactional phase and final leg of the Connexus journey. We would like to wish both the exiting shareholders, and those remaining as part of the now extended Windsor family, our very best for their future endeavours.
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