Adept acquires IT MSP Shift F7 in deal advised by Evolution Capital
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 Adept acquires IT MSP Shift F7 in deal advised by Evolution Capital Acquisition Strategy, Strategic review, Technology December 2, 2025 The deal will expand AdEPT’s IT capabilities and customer base, bringing expertise in outsourced managed IT and telecoms solutions, including IT support, hosted IT, cyber security, data connectivity and next generation IP telephony services. Dorking-based Shift F7 reported £5m in turnover for the year ended 31 May, 2018. Following the acquisition, AdEPT’s revenues will grow by 10% to circa £54m and, depending on the trading performance of Shift F7 in the year post-acquisition, a further £2.9m may be payable in cash. Shift F7 was founded in 1995 and provides IT support services and technology solutions to 200 mid-market customers. Its key suppliers include Citrix, Microsoft, HP, Cisco, Ericsson LG and VMWare. The company also operates hosted platform environments in London Docklands and Heathrow. The companies are well known to each other having collaborated on projects over a ten year period, during which both organisations displayed an appetite for building recurring margin while pursuing capital asset light strategies that are highly cash generative. Approximately 75% of Shift F7’s gross margin is generated from recurring products and services.Shift F7’s Dorking premises will be retained, along with the senior management team responsible for strategy, technology development and general business operations. AdEPT CEO Ian Fishwick commented: “Shift F7 enhances our market position in IT, particularly in London, and complements AdEPT’s acquisition of OurIT in February 2017 which also focused on London and south east commercial customers. Following the Shift F7 acquisition more than 70% of AdEPT’s revenue will be generated from managed services including IT support, unified communications and data networks.” More than 2 results are available in the PRO version (This notice is only visible to admin users) Categories Acquired (2) Acquisition (8) Acquisition Strategy (3) Analytic Services (3) Blog (4) Business Acquisition (1) Business Aquired (2) Business Sale (23) Business Valuation and Research (1) Buy-Side (1) Buy-side M&A advice (1) Buyside M&A (3) Case Studies (59) Disposal (5) Financial Due Diligence (2) Fund raising and listing (1) Fundraising and M&A advice (2) ICT (2) IT (2) IT Managed Services (2) IT MSP (1) M&A Managed Buy and Build Programme (5) Managed Service and Mobile (1) Managed Services (2) MBO Management Buyout (1) Media (1) Merger (1) Multiple R&D Tax Claims (1) Sell-Side (2) Sell-side M&A Advice (1) Software (1) Strategic review & business sale (1) Strategic Review & partial sale (1) Technology (6) Telecoms (30) Telephony (1) Transaction Support (1) Unified Comms (3) Valuation and fundraising (1) Social Media Our Blog Related Articles View all blog posts Acquisition Strategy, Blog Adept acquires IT MSP Shift F7 in deal advised by Evolution Capital December 2, 2025 Acquisition Strategy, Blog Preparing for exit is key December 2, 2025 Acquisition Strategy, Blog Entrepreneurs’ Relief reform – the Evolution Capital take on the 2020 budget December 2, 2025 Acquisition Strategy, Blog Entrepreneurs’ Relief reform – the Evolution Capital take on the 2020 budget December 2, 2025 Acquisition Strategy, Blog Entrepreneurs’ Relief reform – the Evolution Capital take on the 2020 budget December 2, 2025 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 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 King William Street, London, EC4N 7HR The Granary, Oak Lane, Chichester, PO20 7FD Subscribe Subscribe to our newsletter
Preparing for exit is key
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 Preparing for exit is key Acquisition Strategy, Preparing for exit, Strategic review, Technology December 2, 2025 Preparation for exit is clearly key to success, but how many company owners genuinely practice this when embarking on selling their business? We see so many companies in the TMT sector make the decision to sell only to be disappointed after a long and arduous sale process in which the final price has been chipped again and again by savvy buyers. Selling your company is arguably the most important event of your business career. It would be foolish not to prepare fully for it. -Where to start? The sales process is a multi-event sequence and requires learning a multitude of technical skills and abilities. While most entrepreneurs have plenty of passion and commitment it is unlikely that they will become an expert in the different aspects of selling a business, or even assemble a team that can deliver such a multi-skilled process. A first step would be to find the right M&A advisory firm with an in-depth knowledge of the sector to take you through the entire process. -When to sell and who to? When to sell is a personal decision. Some entrepreneurs have a target value in mind, others might have to sell for personal reasons. There is no right or wrong time, as long as your business is ready for sale it will attract buyers. The TMT sector continues to expand and there are plenty of mid-market players looking to merge with like-minded businesses. Knowledge of the sector and the personalities behind it is paramount as due diligence advisers are known to be canny. -Get fit for sale This can take time. Learning new skills is always hard, and only with total commitment to trial and error do we acquire new abilities to a reasonable standard. All the events or phases in a sales process are crucial. A platform of quality information and reporting needs to be designed and populated so the business will score the highest points through each event, and most importantly arm business owners with the right tools to defend buyer investigations in the transaction phase. Business owners who are determined to achieve maximum value must understand a buyer’s perspective of their individual propositions, strengths and weaknesses, before embarking on value improvement. -Strategic review A full strategic review of your business is crucial. Most companies will want to raise KPI performance before populating an information memorandum template. It is critical for business owners to improve these metrics and remove any obstacles to a sale. Sale processes that do not commence with a strategic review, that have no robust due diligence platform to support the process through to completion, nor commit to a value improvement program from the beginning, are unlikely to achieve maximum value at transaction.Simply squeezing your business into a template to attract offers without any bespoke analysis and metric training is not an option. In fact, research by Evolution Capital has found the biggest challenge facing a business ill-prepared for the sales process is not the lack of reasonable offers, it is achieving a value at transaction that has any semblance to the value agreed when entering exclusivity with a buyer. -Start early Most processes lose more value than they gain in price maximisation through marketing and negotiation than they do in the period between signing heads and entering exclusivity to completion. Why not enter that phase in full knowledge that your business is fighting fit? It is not uncommon to see reductions of over 20 per cent achieved by competent buyers with specialist advisors. During due diligence, difficulties often arise with defending claims made in the company information memorandum document and this generally points to a lack of preparation in the beginning and due provision for specialist guidance in the final phase.Professional adviceWhile brokers claim expertise with transactions, many lack the experience or fail to commit these expensive resources in the final phase of the project. Business models heavily contingent on success require high levels of transactions, which in turn necessitates resources being spread too thinly to deliver outstanding outcomes for shareholders. In many cases, the need for experienced transaction support is critically delivered over a demanding four week period, when business owners are most challenged to defend value. Our experience is that a successful mid-market business sale absorbs many hours of professional advice much earlier in the process, typically between 500 to 1,000 hours of professional advice. Of this at least 30 per cent is set aside for preparation.Transaction dayIt can all still fall apart if you don’t have the right team around you. While training and preparation are of equal importance to achieving ultimate success in a sales process, all can still be lost at the final crucial moment. A good M&A advisory organisation will manage the arduous transaction process, field questions and deliver the right information to buyers, ensuring the right price is achieved.[This was first printed in Comms Dealer Magazine in February 2019] More than 2 results are available in the PRO version (This notice is only visible to admin users) Categories Acquired (2) Acquisition (8) Acquisition Strategy (2) Analytic Services (3) Blog (3) Business Acquisition (1) Business Aquired (2) Business Sale (23) Business Valuation and Research (1) Buy-Side (1) Buy-side M&A advice (1) Buyside M&A (3) Case Studies (59) Disposal (5) Financial Due Diligence (2) Fund raising and listing (1) Fundraising and M&A advice (2) ICT (2) IT (2) IT Managed Services (2) IT MSP (1) M&A Managed Buy and Build Programme (5) Managed Service and Mobile (1) Managed Services (2) MBO Management Buyout (1) Media (1) Merger (1) Multiple R&D Tax Claims (1) Sell-Side (2) Sell-side M&A Advice (1) Software (1) Strategic review & business sale (1) Strategic Review & partial sale (1) Technology (6) Telecoms (30) Telephony (1) Transaction Support (1) Unified Comms (3) Valuation and fundraising (1) Social Media Our Blog Related Articles View all blog posts Acquisition Strategy, Blog Preparing for exit is key December 2, 2025 Acquisition Strategy, Blog Entrepreneurs’ Relief reform – the Evolution Capital take on
Entrepreneurs’ Relief reform – the Evolution Capital take on the 2020 budget
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 Entrepreneurs’ Relief reform – the Evolution Capital take on the 2020 budget Acquisition Strategy, Blog December 2, 2025 Yesterday’s budget signalled just how serious a threat to the British economy the coronavirus crisis has become. New chancellor Rishi Sunak’s announcement of the biggest budget giveaway for almost 30 years, including £12bn of immediate measures for the NHS, public services and small businesses in a coordinated move with the Bank of England, had to be funded by something and it seemed entrepreneurs were to pay the price. One of the most significant revenue raisers came from the decision to limit Entrepreneurs’ Relief, which Sunak described as “expensive, ineffective and unfair”. He said the lifetime limit would be reduced from £10m to £1m, a move that will raise £6bn. Paul Davies, M&A adviser at Evolution Capital, commented: “The reform to Entrepreneurs’ Relief was expected as the benefits fell to very few people. Indeed, for larger businesses, the relief has effectively been removed. From our research at Evolution Capital, we do not feel that there will be a material impact on business valuations at the point of sale. M&A activity in the TMT sector remains buoyant and we have a number of buyers who continue to be interested in acquiring high quality businesses with strong recurring revenues. Such businesses are still in short supply and remain attractive to potential purchasers.”The tax break had previously been heavily criticised by economic think tanks including the Institute for Fiscal Studies and the Resolution Foundation, who said it was not well targeted and caused distortions in the tax system. Entrepreneurs’ Relief, which halves the capital gains tax paid when people sell their businesses, was introduced by Gordon Brown’s Labour government in 2008 in a bid to incentivise people to create new businesses and was expanded by the Conservative government after 2010. However, it is said to benefit just 4,000 business owners a year, who tend to use the tax relief as a retirement pot, rather than stimulating new start-ups. It costs the Exchequer an estimated £2.7bn a year to operate without stimulating start-up business. Under Sunak’s revamp, the relief on capital gains tax when selling a business was significantly scaled back. Business sellers will pay 10% on lifetime gains of up to £1m, compared with the previous upper limit of £10m. Above £1m, business owners will be charged standard capital gains tax rates, which is 20% for higher-rate taxpayers.Sunak said fewer than one in 10 claimants said the relief had acted as an incentive to set up their business, and almost three-quarters of the cost went to 5,000 people. Indeed, it is said some 80% of small business owners would be unaffected by the change. The money raised by the Entrepreneurs’ Relief reform will be used towards other measures to help businesses, including an increase in the tax relief available for businesses investing in research and development, or buildings and structures. The employment allowance, which small businesses can apply for and put towards employer national insurance contributions and first introduced by George Osborne in 2014, will be increased by a third to £4,000.The tax reform was praised by Mike Cherry, the chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses as a “sensible compromise”. However, many business owners will find the decision a tough one to accept. Some argue there is a risk the reform will dis-incentive business owners to sell and would deny any reward for entrepreneurs who have taken risks and experienced hardship during the set-up phases of running their businesses. Miles Dean, head of international tax at Anderson Tax UK, claimed Entrepreneurs’ Relief was an “easy target” and that it sent out a negative message to people setting up new businesses.“Politicians must consider what this means commercially and what it will do for an economy that relies very heavily on entrepreneurs. It is a great shame. The message is loud and clear from this government: take all the risk you like in setting up a new business, it doesn’t count for anything,” he told Citywire.co.uk. Meanwhile, IPSE (the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed) welcomed Sunak’s “historic Coronavirus stimulus package” but criticised the government’s plans to extend the changes to IR35 to the private sector, claiming it would undermine the contracting sector. Chris Bryce, CEO of IPSE, said: “This Budget is a mixed but overall still gloomy event for most of the self-employed. The measures to support the self-employed and small businesses through the coronavirus outbreak are very welcome – and in-line with what IPSE has been calling for. However, just as the government tries to protect freelancers’ incomes with these measures, it destroys their work by forging ahead with the disastrous changes to IR35, despite heavy criticism.” Elsewhere across the business sector, the budget was broadly welcomed as a positive. Ian Stewart, chief economist at Deloitte, said: “Major shocks to economies need to be resisted with a swift, aggressive and co-ordinated policy response. Mark Carney and Rishi Sunak have produced a forceful and convincing response to the crisis. In economic policy terms, they just deployed the big bazooka.” Evolution Capital prides itself on offering bespoke M&A advice to clients in the TMT sector. Our carefully chosen tax experts are on hand throughout the transaction process to ensure all outcomes are as tax-efficient as possible. If you’re a business owner looking to buy, sell or accelerate, please get in touch with our transaction team. 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Inside the serial acquirer’s playbook: How EC Analytics Transforms FDD
How do serial acquirers streamline financial due diligence and make smarter, faster M&A decisions? In this exclusive interview from the Evolution Capital Financial Due Diligence Forum, Pete Tomlinson, CEO of Windsor Telecom, reveals how EC Analytics is revolutionizing the way experienced buyers assess acquisitions. Key Insights: How serial acquirers approach financial due diligence for maximum impact. The role of innovative technology in accelerating deal assessments Using EC Analytics to identify strategic opportunities beyond the numbers Why understanding customer and product dynamics is critical in M&A. How to refine and elevate your due diligence process for smarter acquisitionsIf you’re looking to enhance your M&A strategy and gain a competitive edge, don’t miss this discussion! Join us at Channel Live to explore how EC Analytics is shaping the future of financial due diligence.