UKFast completed 2018 by finalising an investment deal with Inflexion Private Equity which takes the Manchester-based cloud specialists’ valuation to £405 million.
The cloud hosting firm announced the valuation, which is based on £25 million EDITBA with the investment created by Inflexion’s minority investment fund, Partnership Capital.
Last month UKFast revealed it was on course to post revenue figures of £53 million for 2018, representing an increase of 13 per cent from £47 million in 2017.
Founded in 1999 by Lawrence Jones and Gail Jones, UKFast initially expressed an interest in a flotation on the stock market but has instead opted for private equity.
With a customer base of 5,500 UK SME clients and 200 mid-sized companies, UKFast also has 350 employees across its Manchester campus, London sales office and data centres.
“Immediate connection.”
UKFast CEO and founder Lawrence Jones commented on the investment; “When Inflexion threw their hat into the ring, alongside several others, there was an immediate connection.
“The Inflexion team have got an incredible reputation when they have invested pre-IPO. That reputation, coupled with their team headed up by Carl Wormald and Irina Hemmers is something that gives us great confidence for the future.”
It is anticipated that the IT infrastructure services market is worth around £2 billion and is predicted to be growing at around nine per cent per year.
Inflexion managing director Simon Turner has welcomed the deal and hopes it will help accelerate growth.
“UKFast has proven itself as a market leader, with its Manchester campus and data centres being testament to the business’s dedication to service excellence and technical performance” said Turner.
