Marginal Gains
Home Our Services Transaction Services Lead Advisory Debt Advisory Virtual CFO & CFO Assist About Us Our Team Office Location Success Stories Blog Contact Us Home Our Services Transaction Services Lead Advisory Debt Advisory Virtual CFO & CFO Assist About Us Our Team Office Location Success Stories Blog Contact Us Published by Evolution Capital | IT/Telco M&A Specialists | 25 Years | 250+ Transactions Evolution Capital · 25 Years · 250+ Deals Marginal Gains The quality of your data can have a greater impact on your valuation than many founders realise. This guide explains why buyers place so much emphasis on financial accuracy, consistency, and transparencyand how better data creates stronger deals. Published by Evolution Capital | IT/Telco M&A Specialists | 25 Years | 250+ Transactions https://youtu.be/PHnn6kPfE6M 25+ Years in technology M&A 250+ Transactions $1bn+ In completed transactions Two IT services businesses with £2 million EBITDA each. One sold for £18 million. The other sold for £12 million. Same headline profitability, same sector, similar customers. The £6 million gap came down to cost structure. Evolution Capital · From the trenches At a Glance What You’ll Learn. Learn how buyers analyse cost structure during Financial Due Diligence, which metrics have the greatest impact on valuation, and the practical improvements that can increase EBITDA multiples before going to market. Small Improvements Create Big Value Just like marginal gains in elite sport, a series of small operational improvements can compound into significantly higher EBITDA multiples and business value. Book a Confidential Conversation Table of Contents 01 Why Cost Structure Matters 02 Gross Margin: The Foundation 03 Margin by Product, Customer & Supplier 04 Reseller vs Services Model 05 Supplier Costs & Procurement 06 Staff Productivity & Compensation 07 EBITDA Normalisation 08 How Buyers Assess Cost Structure 09 Preparing Before Sale 10 Key Takeaways 11 Frequently Asked Questions Evolution Capital Cast your mind back to the glory of our home Olympics; London 2012. The velodrome at the Olympic Park, packed to capacity, roaring every time a British rider crossed the line. Gold after gold after gold. Bradley Wiggins, already the first British man to win the Tour de France just weeks earlier, taking the time trial on The Mall with the whole country watching. Chris Hoy, Victoria Pendleton, Laura Trott. Nine Olympic records. Seven world records. A home crowd that could barely believe what they were seeing. It wasn’t an accident. In 2003, British Cycling had appointed Sir Dave Brailsford as performance director. At the time, it was hardly headline news. The team had won a single Olympic gold medal in the previous hundred years. One of Europe’s top bike manufacturers refused to supply them, fearing it would damage their reputation if professional riders were seen on their bikes. Brailsford’s approach was what he called the aggregation of marginal gains: the belief that if you broke down every element of cycling performance and improved each by just 1%, the cumulative effect would be extraordinary. He started with the obvious things: bike ergonomics, rider nutrition, training programmes. Then he went further. His team tested massage gels for optimal muscle recovery. They hired a surgeon to teach riders the correct way to wash their hands to reduce the chance of illness. They painted the floors of team trucks white so that any speck of dust threatening bike maintenance would be immediately visible. They identified the best pillow for sleep quality and brought it to every hotel on the road. By the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the British team was winning 60% of available cycling gold medals. By London 2012, they were setting records on home soil in front of their own crowd. Then came six Tour de France victories in eight years across Wiggins, Froome, and Geraint Thomas, from a team that had never won it before in the entire history of the race. The name of this article is borrowed from Brailsford’s philosophy deliberately. Because in IT services M&A, cost structure improvements work exactly the same way. No single change is transformative. But the aggregation of disciplined procurement, well-structured staff costs, properly allocated margins, and eliminated waste can shift a business from a 6x multiple to a 9x multiple. On £2 million EBITDA, that is a £6 million difference. The gains can be harder to achieve than revenue growth. But they are often more valuable. The Cost Structure Issues That Compress EBITDA Multiples in IT Services M&A What Buyers Want to See Gross margin by service line Customer profitability analysis Supplier margin reporting Staff productivity metrics Market-aligned compensation Clearly documented EBITDA adjustments Consistent procurement processes Multi-year financial trends Book a Data Readiness Review Evolution Capital Why Cost Structure Matters as Much as Revenue in IT Services M&A When a buyer evaluates an IT services acquisition, they are not just buying current profitability. They are buying a platform they plan to scale, integrate, and grow. Cost structure determines how much of that opportunity actually exists and how sustainable the margins are. A business with disciplined cost management is lower risk. Margins are predictable and unlikely to erode. A business with poor cost management theoretically has upside: fix the inefficiencies and margins improve. But buyers discount that potential heavily because they’re not certain they can capture it, the investment required is often larger than projected, cost discipline problems frequently signal wider operational weaknesses, and making changes risks disrupting the business during a critical integration period. The result is that buyers pay a premium for businesses with strong cost structure and discount businesses with cost problems, even when current EBITDA is identical. In IT services specifically, EBITDA margins are an important signal. Because overhead costs are largely fixed, revenue growth passes disproportionately down to the bottom line. A business growing at 15% per year with disciplined costs will see meaningful EBITDA margin expansion. A business with the same growth but creeping cost inflation will not. Buyers can see the difference in the trend data and they price accordingly. Process Section Six Key Drivers Contact us 01 Gross Margin Understand profitability by service, customer, and supplier not just overall revenue. 02 Supplier Management Regularly review supplier pricing and rebates to protect margins. 03 Staff Productivity Measure utilisation,
First Data Jitters
Home Our Services Transaction Services Lead Advisory Debt Advisory Virtual CFO & CFO Assist About Us Our Team Office Location Success Stories Blog Contact Us Home Our Services Transaction Services Lead Advisory Debt Advisory Virtual CFO & CFO Assist About Us Our Team Office Location Success Stories Blog Contact Us Published by Evolution Capital | IT/Telco M&A Specialists | 25 Years | 250+ Transactions Evolution Capital · 25 Years · 250+ Deals First Data Jitters The quality of your data can have a greater impact on your valuation than many founders realise. This guide explains why buyers place so much emphasis on financial accuracy, consistency, and transparency and how better data creates stronger deals. Published by Evolution Capital | IT/Telco M&A Specialists | 25 Years | 250+ Transactions https://youtu.be/YoO0M3YGGIA 25+ Years in technology M&A 250+ Transactions $1bn+ In completed transactions Buyers don’t buy EBITDA—they buy confidence that the EBITDA is accurate, verifiable, and sustainable. Clean, consistent data is the foundation of every successful transaction. Evolution Capital · From the trenches At a Glance What You’ll Learn. Discover why data quality is one of the biggest drivers of buyer confidence, how Financial Due Diligence teams assess your numbers, and the practical steps that help businesses achieve faster transactions, stronger valuations, and fewer surprises during a sale. Confidence Creates Value A business with average financial performance and excellent data often attracts stronger offers than a business with better performance but unreliable numbers. Buyers reward certainty. Book a Confidential Conversation Table of Contents 01 Why Data Quality Matters 02 The Buyer Confidence Chain 03 Data Quality vs Data Organisation 04 Common Data Problems 05 The Cost of Poor Data 06 What Good Data Looks Like 07 Quality of Cash vs Quality of Earnings 08 The Most Common FDD Findings 09 Building Better Data Before Sale 10 How Evolution Capital Can Help 11 Frequently Asked Questions New To The Biz Cast your mind back to your first date with someone you were genuinely interested in. The nerves. The questions about what to wear, what to say, how much to reveal, how to come across as interesting without trying too hard. You wanted them to like you, to trust you, to see the best version of what you had to offer. Nobody is born with perfect game. The first time is a real learning experience. Sometimes it goes well, the chemistry is there from the start, the conversation flows, you both leave feeling like something real might be developing. Sometimes it’s a car crash. Wrong venue, wrong stories, too much too soon, and both of you counting down to the moment you can politely leave. Selling a business for the first time works exactly the same way. The seller sits across the table from a buyer or, in a competitive process, from several buyers at once. They want to be believed. They want to engender confidence. They want to tell a story that lands well without giving away everything upfront. And just like a first date, success depends as much on who is sitting on the other side and whether the two parties genuinely mesh as it does on what you actually have to offer. One of the most important things a first-time seller can have alongside them is someone who has been in this room hundreds of times before. An adviser who knows what buyers want to see, what triggers anxiety, what builds confidence, and how to present the business in a way that creates genuine trust rather than awkward silence. That trust, in an M&A process, starts with data. Clean, consistent, well-evidenced numbers that give buyers the confidence to commit. But data alone is not quite enough. A founder who walks into that room knowing their numbers, who can answer questions without hesitation, who understands what buyers are going to look at and has thought through the answers in advance, presents a fundamentally different picture to one who is visibly uncertain about their own financials. The data provides the evidence. The seller’s ability to present it with genuine authority is what makes that evidence land. This article is primarily about the data, because that is where the work happens and where the value is built. But keep the human side in mind throughout. Why Your Data Can Make or Break Your Deal Is Your Business Data Ready for Due Diligence? Discover how stronger financial reporting and buyer-ready data can reduce risk, accelerate due diligence, and maximise the value of your business. Book a Data Readiness Review The Emotional Reality The Chain That Determines What You Receive There is a simple chain that governs how much a buyer will pay and on what terms. Data becomes evidence. Evidence creates buyer comfort. Buyer comfort determines price and terms. Every link in that chain matters. Great revenue growth means nothing if buyers cannot verify it. A strong customer base means nothing if the numbers supporting it cannot be reconciled. An impressive EBITDA margin means nothing if buyers cannot trace it back to source documents and understand how it was calculated. We have seen countless deals with experienced buyers, not first-timers, not nervous newcomers, but sophisticated PE funds and experienced trade acquirers, postponed and abandoned because the data simply wasn’t adequate. Not because the business wasn’t good. Because the business couldn’t prove it was good. The credibility of the numbers you present, and the credibility of the people presenting them, is what turns a promising opportunity into a completed transaction at the price you deserve. Process Section The Buyer Confidence Journey Contact us 01 Collect Ensure financial and operational data is complete, accurate, and consistently maintained. 02 Validate Enable buyers to reconcile every figure back to supporting evidence. 03 Build Trust Reliable information reduces uncertainty and strengthens buyer confidence. 04 Maximise Value Greater confidence leads to smoother transactions, stronger offers, and improved deal certainty. Operations Why IT Services Businesses Have No Excuse for Poor Data Before getting into what good looks like, it is worth making a point that often gets missed: IT services, managed services, telecommunications, and cybersecurity businesses are among the most
Recurring Recurring Recurring
Home Our Services Transaction Services Lead Advisory Debt Advisory Virtual CFO & CFO Assist About Us Our Team Office Location Success Stories Blog Contact Us Home Our Services Transaction Services Lead Advisory Debt Advisory Virtual CFO & CFO Assist About Us Our Team Office Location Success Stories Blog Contact Us Published by Evolution Capital | IT/Telco M&A Specialists | 25 Years | 250+ Transactions Evolution Capital · 25 Years · 250+ Deals Recurring Recurring Recurring Not all recurring revenue is created equal. Learn why buyers look beyond ARR and how factors like contract quality, pricing power, customer retention, and revenue mix can significantly impact the valuation of an IT services business. Published by Evolution Capital | IT/Telco M&A Specialists | 25 Years | 250+ Transactions 25+ Years in technology M&A 250+ Transactions $1bn+ In completed transactions Revenue quality not revenue volume is one of the biggest drivers of valuation in IT services M&A. Buyers assess contract strength, customer concentration, pricing power, churn, and revenue predictability to determine how sustainable future earnings really are. Evolution Capital · From the trenches At a Glance What You’ll Learn. This article explains how experienced buyers assess revenue quality beyond headline ARR, revealing the factors that drive higher valuations in IT services M&A. You’ll gain insight into the commercial and financial metrics that matter most during due diligence and discover practical ways to build a more resilient, valuable business before going to market. Revenue Doesn’t Equal Value Two businesses with identical recurring revenue can receive dramatically different valuations. The difference lies in the quality, predictability, and resilience of that revenue not simply its size. Book a Confidential Conversation Table of Contents 01 Introduction 02 Why Revenue Quality Matters 03 The ARR Illusion 04 What Buyers Really Assess 05 Contract Quality & Renewals 06 Pricing Power 07 Revenue Stickiness 08 Hardware & Professional Services 09 Churn & Customer Concentration 10 Key Takeaways 11 Frequently Asked Questions New To The Biz When Tony Blair came to power in 1997, his platform was distilled into three words that became instantly memorable: “Education, Education, Education.” Brilliant messaging. Three words that positioned education as the cornerstone of national success, the priority above all others, the foundation upon which everything else would be built. In IT services M&A, recurring revenue has become our equivalent rallying cry. Buyers chase it. Sellers optimise for it. Corporate finance advisers market it. Everyone agrees that recurring revenue is what separates valuable businesses from transactional ones, the difference between commanding an 8 to 10x EBITDA multiple and struggling to achieve 6x. And they are broadly right. But like most political slogans, the headline masks the complexity. Recurring revenue is critical, but the simple number masks the questions that actually determine value. What kind of recurring revenue? How sticky is it? What about professional services that are not strictly recurring but not one-off either? And where do hardware sales and refresh cycles fit in? A private equity fund walked away from a £12 million MSP acquisition despite impressive headline numbers. The seller had £2.8 million in annual recurring revenue, strong profitability, solid customer relationships. On paper: ideal. Then the diligence team looked beyond the number. They found that £900,000 of that ARR was scheduled to renew within 90 days of completion, another £600,000 sat with customers on month-to-month terms who could cancel with 30 days notice, and the top three customers represented 41% of total revenue with all three contracts due for renewal within twelve months. Same revenue. Same EBITDA. Completely different risk profile. The deal collapsed in week four. After 250 transactions in this sector, we have learned that recurring revenue is the starting point of the conversation, not the conclusion. Why Revenue Quality Trumps Revenue Quantity in IT Services M&A Preparing for an Exit? Our specialists help IT and telecom founders strengthen financial infrastructure, improve revenue quality, and maximise valuation before sale. Speak with an M&A Advisor The Emotional Reality Why Buyers Pay Premiums for Recurring Revenue Before getting into the complexity, it helps to understand why recurring revenue commands such a premium in IT services M&A. The cash flow is predictable. Buyers can model forward confidently. Debt providers can lend against it. Acquisition targets can be valued with far less uncertainty than transactional businesses where performance depends entirely on next quarter’s sales pipeline. Progress is measurable month by month. ARR growth, churn rates, customer retention: these metrics tell you immediately whether a business is healthy or deteriorating. Project-based businesses bounce around based on the timing of large contracts. Managed services businesses reveal their true trajectory continuously. The economics are compelling. Win a customer once, generate revenue for years. Customer acquisition costs amortise over multi-year relationships while the cost to serve typically declines as you learn the customer’s environment. So yes, recurring revenue is fundamental. But the headline number tells you almost nothing about quality, sustainability, or value. Two businesses with identical ARR can command valuations differing by 40 to 50% based on what sits underneath. Process Section How Buyers Evaluate Revenue Quality Contact us 01 Validate the contracts Review renewal terms, notice periods, and revenue visibility. 02 Analyse customer behaviour Measure churn, concentration, retention, and pricing history. 03 Assess long-term sustainability Determine whether the revenue base can support future growth with minimal risk. Operations The ARR Illusion: Why the Number Is Only the Starting Point Most IT services founders focus obsessively on growing their ARR figure. Hit £3 million and you’re a serious business. Reach £5 million and you’re acquisition-ready. Except buyers don’t just care about the number. They care about what it represents, how it’s calculated, and whether it’s real or accounting artifice. “Recurring revenue is the starting point of the conversation, not the conclusion.” Evolution Capital Operations Cash vs Accrual Accounting One distinction that catches many owner-managed businesses is the difference between cash and accrual accounting. Smaller businesses often run on cash accounting because it’s simpler. You invoice a customer £10,000 for annual managed services paid upfront, you recognise £10,000 revenue. Cash in, done. But buyers need accrual accounting. That same £10,000 annual contract paid upfront should be recognised rateably over
New To The Biz
Home Our Services Transaction Services Lead Advisory Debt Advisory Virtual CFO & CFO Assist About Us Our Team Office Location Success Stories Blog Contact Us Home Our Services Transaction Services Lead Advisory Debt Advisory Virtual CFO & CFO Assist About Us Our Team Office Location Success Stories Blog Contact Us Published by Evolution Capital | IT/Telco M&A Specialists | 25 Years | 250+ Transactions Evolution Capital · 25 Years · 250+ Deals New To The Biz. What every first-time IT services seller needs to know before they start a sale process. Published by Evolution Capital | IT/Telco M&A Specialists | 25 Years | 250+ Transactions https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gosMOGs0Pxc 25+ Years in technology M&A 250+ Transactions $1bn+ In completed transactions You may know your business better than anyone alive. But knowing your business and knowing how to sell it are two entirely different skills. This article is for founders doing their first deal. Evolution Capital · From the trenches At a Glance What You’ll Learn. Selling an IT services business involves much more than finding a buyer. Founders should prepare for a process that typically lasts four to six months, maintain business performance during the sale, understand buyer expectations, protect confidentiality, and surround themselves with experienced advisers. Need Expert Advice Before You Start? The earlier you prepare, the smoother your sale process is likely to be. Book a Confidential Conversation Table of Contents 01 What Every First-Time IT Services Seller Needs to Know 02 The Emotional Reality Nobody Warns You About 03 Running Your Business While Selling It 04 Who to Bring into the Loop, and When 05 Deal Speed and Timelines 06 Now, About the Other New Kid on the Block 07 How to Assess and Manage a First-Time Buyer 08 When First-Time Buyers Work Well 09 The Cautionary Tale 10 How Evolution Capital Can Help 11 Common Questions New To The Biz We meet them all the time. Founders who have spent fifteen, twenty, sometimes thirty years building something genuinely impressive. They know every customer by name. They can tell you exactly why their churn rate is what it is, which members of staff are underperforming, which supplier relationships need renegotiating. They understand their technology stack, their cost base, their competitive position, and their market better than any outsider ever will. And then they enter an M&A process for the first time, and they discover that none of that knowledge is quite enough. You can be the most experienced IT managed services operator in the country and be completely new to the business of M&A. The terminology is different. The process is different. The dynamics are different. The emotional experience is unlike anything most founders have encountered before. And the decisions made in those few months, many of them under significant time pressure and stress, can be worth millions of pounds in either direction. This article is not about whether your business is good enough to sell. It is about what first-time sellers need to understand before they start, and what they need to manage well to get to the outcome they deserve. What Every First-Time IT Services Seller Needs to Know The Emotional Reality The Emotional Reality Nobody Warns You About Most first-time sellers underestimate the emotional weight of a sale process. People warn about legal complexity, about diligence, about working capital adjustments. Almost nobody warns you about what it actually feels like to be in the middle of it. Selling a business you have built is not a straightforward commercial transaction. It is, for many founders, one of the most significant events of their professional life. The business has often consumed the better part of a decade or two. It carries relationships, identity, and meaning that go well beyond the financial value. Separating yourself from it, on the explicit understanding that someone else is about to take it over and do things differently, is genuinely difficult. And the process itself compounds this. A typical IT services transaction from initial engagement to completion runs four to six months. During that entire period, you are in a state of suspended animation: you cannot fully commit to the business as if you are staying, and you cannot fully let go because it isn’t sold yet. Every week brings new requests, new questions, new conversations with advisers. The emotional toll of managing uncertainty, for months at a time, is something most founders only understand in retrospect. Add to this the specific stress of not being in control. You are used to making decisions and having them happen. In an M&A process, you are responding to a buyer’s timetable, a lawyer’s drafting, a diligence team’s requests. The process moves at its own pace and there is limited ability to force it faster, which for founders who are accustomed to controlling outcomes is genuinely uncomfortable. None of this is a reason not to sell. It is a reason to go in with eyes open and properly supported. We say this from direct experience: a significant number of the conversations we have with clients during a live sale process end up being less about financial mechanics and more akin to therapy or counselling. The questions are not always about EBITDA normalisation or working capital pegs. They are about doubt, about identity, about whether this is the right decision, about what comes next, about feeling out of control for the first time in years. These conversations are a normal and important part of what a good corporate finance adviser does, and founders should not feel embarrassed to need them. Beyond your advisers, think about your personal support structure. A spouse or partner who understands broadly what you are going through, even if not the detail. A trusted peer who has been through a sale and can offer perspective. Close friends who know enough to check in on you. And if you think the emotional weight of the process may be significant, there is absolutely no shame in engaging a professional therapist or coach before or during the process. Some of the most successful and self-aware founders we have worked with
Evolution Capital Advise shareholders on Major IT MSP Transaction
Home Our Services Transaction Services Lead Advisory Debt Advisory Virtual CFO & CFO Assist About Us Our Team Office Location Success Stories Blog Contact Us Home Our Services Transaction Services Lead Advisory Debt Advisory Virtual CFO & CFO Assist About Us Our Team Office Location Success Stories Blog Contact Us Giacom and Evolution Capital Launch CFO Assist and Virtual CFO Services business, Changing Marketplace, EC Analytic, Market Resilience, performance, Team July 7, 2026 Evolution Capital is pleased to announce the successful completion of one of the largest IT MSP transactions the firm has advised on in the last five years. Providing Lead Advisory services, Evolution Capital guided an ambitious management team through a complex preparation and exit process, culminating in a successful sale to one of the most prolific acquirers in the IT MSP market. Throughout the engagement, Evolution Capital worked closely with management to prepare the business for transaction readiness, navigate buyer scrutiny and optimise positioning throughout the sale process. A central component of the engagement was EC Analytics, Evolution Capital’s analytics platform, which provided deeper insight into business performance, profitability and the underlying drivers of value. By combining strategic advisory expertise with advanced analytics, Evolution Capital helped management build greater clarity, stronger preparation and increased confidence at every stage of the transaction. This transaction reflects a broader shift in the IT MSP market. Buyers are becoming increasingly foresenic, diligence expectations continue to rise and high-quality preparation is becoming one of the biggest drivers of successful outcomes. Businesses that understand their numbers, their risks and their value drivers are consistently best positioned to achieve stronger outcomes. Sam Godfrey, Transaction Services Director at Evolution Capital, commented: “We are proud to achieve outstanding outcomes for our client in the sale of the business to one of the most prolific buyers in the space. Congratulations to both teams on this brilliant achievement, and exciting next chapter.” This transaction further reinforces Evolution Capital’s position as a trusted adviser to ambitious management teams, shareholders and acquirers operating across the technology and IT services markets. 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We specialise in advising Technology, IT and Telecoms business owners on business sales, acquisitions and strategic growth. Our work includes valuation, exit planning, due diligence, market intelligence and full end-to-end transaction support. What types of companies do you work with? We work exclusively with owner-managed and mid-market businesses in the Technology, IT, Telecoms and Managed Services sectors. Our clients typically generate between £2m–£50m+ in annual revenue. When is the right time to start planning a sale? We specialise in advising Technology, IT and Telecoms business owners on business sales, acquisitions and strategic growth. Our work includes valuation, exit planning, due diligence, market intelligence and full end-to-end transaction support. What does Evolution Capital do? We specialise in advising Technology, IT and Telecoms business owners on business sales, acquisitions and strategic growth. Our work includes valuation, exit planning, due diligence, market intelligence and full end-to-end transaction support. What does Evolution Capital do? We specialise in advising Technology, IT and Telecoms business owners on business sales, acquisitions and strategic growth. Our work includes valuation, exit planning, due diligence, market intelligence and full end-to-end transaction support. We specialise in advising Technology, IT and Telecoms business owners on business sales, acquisitions and strategic growth. Our work includes valuation, exit planning, due diligence, market intelligence and full end-to-end transaction support. We work exclusively with owner-managed and mid-market businesses in the Technology, IT, Telecoms and Managed Services sectors. Our clients typically generate between £2m–£50m+ in annual revenue. We specialise in advising Technology, IT and Telecoms business owners on business sales, acquisitions and strategic growth. Our work includes valuation, exit planning, due diligence, market intelligence and full end-to-end transaction support. We specialise in advising Technology, IT and Telecoms business owners on business sales, acquisitions and strategic growth. Our work includes valuation, exit planning, due diligence, market intelligence and full end-to-end transaction support. We specialise in advising Technology, IT and Telecoms business owners on business sales, acquisitions and strategic growth. Our work includes valuation, exit planning, due diligence, market intelligence and full end-to-end transaction support. FAQ Frequently Asked Questions Request a Confidential Consultation Discover Your Business Value Start with a strategic assessment to understand your maximum potential valuation in the current market. Contact us now Company About Us Blogs Our Location Careers Our Services About Us Sell Side Buy Side Data Work Resources Faq Client Dashboard Support Our Location Contact Us (020) 3696 2810 Info@evolutioncapital.com 68
What A Buyer Wants: Series Launch
Home Our Services Transaction Services Lead Advisory Debt Advisory Virtual CFO & CFO Assist About Us Our Team Office Location Success Stories Blog Contact Us Home Our Services Transaction Services Lead Advisory Debt Advisory Virtual CFO & CFO Assist About Us Our Team Office Location Success Stories Blog Contact Us Published by Evolution Capital | IT/Telco M&A Specialists | 25 Years | 250+ Transactions Evolution Capital IT / Telco M&A · 25 Years · 250+ Deals M&A Survival Guide · Series Introduction What ABuyer Wants An M&A Survival Guide from the Trenches 25 Years in the market 250+ Transactions closed £250M Deal value advised “There is a moment in almost every IT services sale process where the seller says something that reveals how different their world is from the buyer’s.” Evolution Capital · From the trenches £2–5M Typical value gap between prepared and unprepared sellers 10 Articles covering what actually determines deal outcomes 100% IT & Telco focus no generalist M&A noise The information gap The asymmetry that costs sellers millions The IT services M&A market has matured dramatically. Buyers today PE funds running buy-and-build strategies, trade acquirers building scale, family offices deploying capital into managed services have often done this dozens or hundreds of times. They have detailed benchmarking data. They know what good looks like. They have seen every optimistic forecast, every balance sheet manoeuvre, every data room assembled in a hurry. Most sellers, even experienced entrepreneurs, have sold a business once. Maybe twice in a career. That gap costs sellers money. In our experience, the difference between a well-prepared seller and an unprepared one on a comparable business is typically £2 to £5 million on a £10 to £15 million transaction not because the underlying business is different, but because the preparation is. Why this series exists We keep seeing the same patterns. The same issues surfacing at the same stage of the same process. The same preparation gaps costing sellers the same kinds of money. This is our attempt to close that gap 25 years of pattern recognition, put into words. Who this is for Written for both sides of the table For Sellers IT services founders preparing to sell their business in the next 12–36 months. This series gives you the specific, practical preparation that buyers expect and that most sellers don’t have until it’s too late. For Buyers PE funds, trade acquirers, and family offices active in IT and Telco M&A. Whether experienced in the space or entering it for the first time, this series provides a grounding that generalist M&A knowledge doesn’t always deliver. What you’ll find here Not generic advice dressed in sector-specific language. Not theoretical frameworks applied to hypothetical businesses. Real situations, real numbers (anonymised), real consequences from 250+ transactions in this exact market. They cover revenue quality, cost structure, financial data, balance sheet mechanics, deal structure, management forecasts, and the hidden risks that surface when a buyer’s FDD team goes looking with fresh eyes. They are sometimes uncomfortably direct about the mistakes we see repeatedly and the money those mistakes cost. The Series Ten articles · Ten puns 01 Revenue QualityWhat buyers really mean when they ask how recurring your revenue is and why your answer probably needs work. 02 Cost StructureThe normalisation adjustments that inflate EBITDA on paper and what buyers do when they find them in diligence. 03 Financial DataWhy the quality and integrity of your management accounts matters more than the numbers themselves. 04 Balance Sheet MechanicsWorking capital pegs, completion accounts, and the cash that you thought was yours but isn’t. 05 Deal StructureEarnouts, deferred consideration, and the clauses sellers sign without reading until they bite. 06 Management ForecastsThe pipeline conversation every seller dreads and how to have it without losing credibility. 07–10 More to comeCustomer concentration, people & TUPE, hidden risk, and the emotional reality of a founder sale process. Evolution Capital · IT/Telco M&A SpecialistsEC Analytics · Virtual CFO / Corporate Finance / FDD Read the series ↗ The short version: Ten articles on what actually determines outcomes when selling an IT services business. Built from 250 transactions. Written by the people who write the exam sellers need to pass, and those who have guided them through it. Everyone knows the basics of supply and demand. More buyers than sellers, prices go up. More sellers than buyers, they come down. Simple enough in a commodity market. But in an M&A process, the dynamics are rather more personal. How do you create demand for your specific business? How do you know what a buyer actually wants, beyond the headline metrics? How do you present what you have built in a way that answers the questions buyers are really asking, rather than the ones you think they are asking? How do you know what a buyer wants? That question is the reason this series exists. And it turns out that after 25 years and over 250 transactions in IT and Telco M&A, we have a fairly detailed answer. There is a moment in almost every IT services sale process we have been involved in where the seller says something that reveals how different their world is from the buyer’s. Sometimes it is “buyers care about EBITDA, not the balance sheet.” Sometimes it is “our pipeline is £3 million, basically all of it is going to close.” Sometimes it is “that customer dispute was three years ago, it’s ancient history.” And sometimes, most painfully, it is “I had no idea any of this was going to come up.” We are a small team. Corporate finance advisers and financial due diligence specialists, working exclusively in IT and Telco for the past 25 years. We have advised on over 250 transactions in the lower mid-market, the part of the landscape where founder-led IT businesses meet professional buyers for the first time. We have sat on both sides of the table: running sale processes for sellers, conducting financial diligence for buyers, and advising on everything in between. The trenches part of this title is not just a turn of phrase. Some
Giacom and Evolution Capital Launch CFO Assist and Virtual CFO Services
Home Our Services Transaction Services Lead Advisory Debt Advisory Virtual CFO & CFO Assist About Us Our Team Office Location Success Stories Blog Contact Us Home Our Services Transaction Services Lead Advisory Debt Advisory Virtual CFO & CFO Assist About Us Our Team Office Location Success Stories Blog Contact Us Giacom and Evolution Capital Launch CFO Assist and Virtual CFO Services business, Changing Marketplace, EC Analytic, Market Resilience, performance, Team June 30, 2026 Giacom and Evolution Capital Launch CFO Assist and Virtual CFO Services New Managed Services offerings provide MSPs and Expert Technology Resellers with real-time insight into profitability, KPIs and business value. Giacom and Evolution Capital have announced the launch of CFO Assist and Virtual CFO. These two new financial insight services form parts of EC Analytics, an analytics and financial insight platform for MSPs and channel businesses that helps leadership teams gain clear visibility into profitability, recurring margin, and the drivers of business value. The Giacom and Evolution Capital partnership was formed to help Channel businesses gain clearer insight from the financial data they already hold, much of which is typically locked inside billing systems. By integrating billing data directly into an analytics environment, the solution enables businesses to track key performance indicators, understand the drivers of margin, profitability, and value, and make better-informed decisions without the complexity of building in-house business intelligence capability. CFO Assist is designed for larger MSPs with an existing Finance Director or CFO, providing enhanced visibility across complex financial data. By transforming detailed information into clear, visual dashboards, CFO Assist supports KPI-driven management and more informed decision making to help businesses improve performance, profitability, and long-term value. Virtual CFO provides smaller MSPs with access to big business financial insight. Working alongside a business’s existing accounts support, it provides the same quality of insight, delivered in a more lightweight and cost-effective format. Delivered as a managed service, the offerings combine technology with hands on financial expertise. Through direct integration with Giacom’s billing platform and core finance systems, CFO Assist and Virtual CFO transform complex data into real time dashboards via EC Analytics, supporting performance management, benchmarking, and M&A readiness. Evolution Capital also provides specialist M&A and advisory services alongside Giacom’s billing, automation, and go to market support to help MSPs improve operational maturity and long term exit readiness. Ellie Allseybrook, Business Development Director, Software Sales at Giacom, commented: “MSPs have historically focused on revenue growth but, especially in the current climate, acquirers and investors are increasingly looking deeper at how that revenue is delivered. CFO Assist and Virtual CFO give MSP leaders the financial clarity they need to understand true profitability, improve operational maturity, and build businesses that are not only growing but also optimised for long-term valuation.” Sam Godfrey, Transaction Services Director at Evolution Capital, added: “EC Analytics is built for MSP leaders running their businesses day-to-day. While most shareholders will exit at some point, value creation starts long before that. The challenge we consistently see is that critical insight is locked away in spreadsheets and data dumps that are difficult for stakeholders to interpret and act on. “EC Analytics transforms core financial data into a clear, visual, and dynamic environment, allowing leadership teams to interrogate performance, understand what is really driving customer behaviour and margin, and make better decisions in real time. By operating exclusively in the MSP sector, our mission is to provide a purpose-built solution that helps MSPs build stronger, more scalable, and ultimately more valuable businesses. Our partnership with Giacom is exactly what MSPs need to achieve this.” Learn more about Giacom here. 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We specialise in advising Technology, IT and Telecoms business owners on business sales, acquisitions and strategic growth. Our work includes valuation, exit planning, due diligence, market intelligence and full end-to-end transaction support. What types of companies do you work with? We work exclusively with owner-managed and mid-market businesses in the Technology, IT, Telecoms and Managed Services sectors. Our clients typically generate between £2m–£50m+ in annual revenue. When is the right time to start planning a sale? We specialise in advising Technology, IT and Telecoms business owners on business sales, acquisitions and strategic growth. Our work includes valuation, exit planning, due diligence, market intelligence and full end-to-end transaction support. What does Evolution Capital do? We specialise in advising Technology, IT and Telecoms business owners on business sales, acquisitions and strategic growth. Our work includes valuation, exit planning, due diligence, market intelligence and full end-to-end transaction support. What does Evolution Capital do? We specialise in advising Technology, IT and Telecoms business owners on business sales, acquisitions and strategic growth. Our
Callagenix
Home Contact Us Home-version 2 Service page About Us Office Location Post template Home Contact Us Home-version 2 Service page About Us Office Location Post template Aquisition Managed Services 2023 Background Bespoke telephony provider Callagenix was founded by Mark and Tony Jenkins in 1999. Both directors come from a background in IT and Telecoms and following the sale of another business in 1998, the shareholders were eager to explore web-based opportunities, and so Callagenix was established based on being able to generate a number of clients online and configure multiple managed services to sit behind that number. The shareholders spent the late nineties and early noughties programming, developing and building integrated systems with links into BT and other Tier 1 providers. The company was established to create a self-sufficient business model within the telecoms arena, which required little maintenance from a cash-flow perspective, as well as from a user perspective allowing customers to manage the products and services independently via an online platform. Advice, Planning and Preparation Having previously experienced the generalist broker approach towards the transaction process, shareholders Mark and Tony sought the advice of a specialist advisor, with the market intelligence and proven methodologies to achieve outstanding outcomes. With over 20 years’ experience exclusively advising shareholders of IT, telco and telecoms businesses, Evolution Capital was selected as the chosen advisory boutique to guide the founders through the business exit process. “When you’re looking at appointing an advisor, you’re looking at several factors; obviously you want to get the maximum amount of value you can for the business at the point that you’re selling… When we went through this process before, they [the broker] was not a specialist. I think, this time around, going with a specialist advisor in the telecoms arena, who understands the challenges for the buyer, and the seller as well, has proved to be the correct decision.” Mark Jenkins Preparation remains to be a key pillar of the Evolution Capital methodology. Our meticulous attention to detail in preparing the businesses we serve enables our team to unlock intrinsic value, and to later protect and defend the valuation of the business through buyer investigation and financial due diligence. The Challenge The nature of Callagenix, its services and its business model are all deeply bespoke, and so presenting such intricacies to potential acquirers could have been challenging had the advisory team leading the transaction process been ill-equipped in understanding the business and sector. However,the Evolution Capital team have an unparalleled understanding of current telephony market trends and temperature, allowing the necessary adjustments and advice to be implemented in order to appeal to the right buyer – not just any buyer – and achieve outstanding outcomes. “As the process unfolded, it became clear that it was actually very good value for money… At the end of the day, a lot more work and effort went into that preparation of the business and the IM, than I would have initially imagined. This ultimately allowed valuation of the business to be defended further on, I think that you guys really know that at Evolution Capital.” Mark Jenkins A successful outcome In January 2023, Mark and Tony Jenkins completed the sale of the business to Chess, with the guidance, preparation and support through due diligence of the Evolution Capital team. “…We probably learnt more about our business going through the process with you guys, than we perhaps did beforehand… Would we have achieved maximum value for the business if we had managed the process ourselves, or by using a different advisor? I don’t think so.” Tony Jenkins Read more about the transaction here: https://www.evolutioncapital.com/news/chess-acquire-bespoke-telephony-platform-callagenix More than 2 results are available in the PRO version (This notice is only visible to admin users) Latest Posts Business Sale Callagenix Case Studies Adept Technology Group Buyside M&A Excalibur Categories Acquired Acquisition Analytic Services Business Acquisition Business Aquired Business Sale Business Valuation and Research Buy-Side Buy-side M&A advice Buyside M&A Case Studies Disposal Financial Due Diligence Fund raising and listing Fundraising and M&A advice ICT IT IT Managed Services IT MSP M&A Managed Buy and Build Programme Managed Service and Mobile Managed Services MBO Management Buyout Media Merger Multiple R&D Tax Claims Sell-Side Sell-side M&A Advice Software Strategic review & business sale Strategic Review & partial sale Technology Telecoms Telephony Unified Comms Valuation and fundraising Social Media Our Blog Related Case Studies View all Business Sale, Case Studies, Managed Services Callagenix December 2, 2025 Acquisition, Case Studies, Managed Services Callagenix December 2, 2025 Case Studies, M&A Managed Buy and Build Programme Adept Technology Group December 2, 2025 Buyside M&A, Case Studies, Managed Service and Mobile Excalibur December 2, 2025 Acquisition, Case Studies, Telecoms Ridgewall December 2, 2025 Request a Confidential Consultation Discover Your Business Value Start with a strategic assessment to understand your maximum potential valuation in the current market. Contact us now Company About Us Blogs Our Location Careers Our Services About Us Sell Side Buy Side Data Work Resources Faq Client Dashboard Support Our Location Contact Us (020) 3696 2810 Info@evolutioncapital.com 68 King William Street, London, EC4N 7HR The Granary, Oak Lane, Chichester, PO20 7FD Subscribe Subscribe to our newsletter
Callagenix
Home Contact Us Home-version 2 Service page About Us Office Location Post template Home Contact Us Home-version 2 Service page About Us Office Location Post template Aquisition Acquisition, Managed Services 2005 Acquisition Analytic Services Business Acquisition Business Aquired Business Sale Business Valuation and Research Buy-Side Buyside M&A Case Studies Disposal Financial Due Diligence Fundraising and M&A advice IT IT Managed Services IT MSP M&A Managed Buy and Build Programme Managed Services MBO Management Buyout Media Merger Multiple R&D Tax Claims Sell-Side Sell-side M&A Advice Technology Telecoms The background Evolution Capital acquired a business customer base on behalf of the shareholders of Callagenix. Our team delivered outstanding outcomes to the shareholders of Callagenix, by advising the team through the acquisition process. Callagenix has decades of expertise in providing business phone systems, business phone numbers and VoIP/SIP solutions, which reduce your phone-line costs and give your business the cutting-edge. Everything from simple UK and international phone numbers to sophisticated, robust and scalable business continuity and telephony solutions. From phone numbers covering the entire UK to a specific local area. Callagenix has a comprehensive range – all expertly hosted by us and giving you complete control over where they route and how they work. Use our wide range of international numbers in more than 100 countries to establish an overseas presence without the cost of being there.Choose from toll-free, local, national or cost-per-call solutions. The challenge On a mission to value growth, the shareholders of Callagenix selected Evolution Capital as the chosen advisor, whereby the team sourced opportunities against the qualification criteria set by the client. Advice, planning and preparation “We were the very first sponsor of Evolution Capitals Maximum Exit programme and found it a great way of uncovering acquisition targets.” Mark Jenkins In a series of face-to-face meetings, Nigel Cook and the transaction team at Evolution worked to find synergistic opportunities, both on and off-market. These opportunities were presented to the shareholders and management team of Callagenix. The Evolution Capital team then, upon instruction from the client, prepared and delivered the offer, provided relationship management and specialist advice to completion. A successful outcome Through a bespoke methodology of robust preparation,dedicated research, deep market intelligence and a unique collaboration of skills, from chartered accountants to dealmakers and transaction experts, the Evolution Capital team is delighted to have achieved such outstanding outcomes for the shareholders and management team of Callagenix. More than 2 results are available in the PRO version (This notice is only visible to admin users) Latest Posts Acquisition Callagenix Case Studies Z1 Telecoms Case Studies Lanway Categories Acquisition Analytic Services Business Acquisition Business Aquired Business Sale Business Valuation and Research Buy-Side Buyside M&A Case Studies Disposal Financial Due Diligence Fundraising and M&A advice IT IT Managed Services IT MSP M&A Managed Buy and Build Programme Managed Services MBO Management Buyout Media Merger Multiple R&D Tax Claims Sell-Side Sell-side M&A Advice Technology Telecoms Social Media Our Blog Related Case Studies View all Acquisition, Case Studies, Managed Services Callagenix December 2, 2025 Case Studies, Disposal, MBO Management Buyout, Telecoms Z1 Telecoms December 2, 2025 Case Studies, Disposal, IT Lanway December 2, 2025 Business Sale, Case Studies, Telecoms Pipemedia December 2, 2025 Acquisition, Case Studies, Telecoms Comms Group December 2, 2025 Request a Confidential Consultation Discover Your Business Value Start with a strategic assessment to understand your maximum potential valuation in the current market. Contact us now Company About Us Blogs Our Location Careers Our Services About Us Sell Side Buy Side Data Work Resources Faq Client Dashboard Support Our Location Contact Us (020) 3696 2810 Info@evolutioncapital.com 68 King William Street, London, EC4N 7HR The Granary, Oak Lane, Chichester, PO20 7FD Subscribe Subscribe to our newsletter