Trustmarque’s merger with Ultima puts it on a trajectory towards £1bn sales, its CEO has told IT Channel Oxygen as he likened the combination to a “yinyang”.
The duo today came clean on rumours they are joining forces to create a VAR and services powerhouse with over 1,000 employees and 3,000 customers.
The transaction, which has been in the offing for months, was inked on Tuesday and conveyed to employees this morning, is set to close in around two weeks’ time.
“I’m thinking of it as a yinyang”
Talking exclusively to IT Channel Oxygen, Trustmarque CEO Simon Williams said the pair’s contrasting strengths mean their union will “create a beautiful picture”.
Ranking 9th in Oxygen 250 2025, Trustmarque is known for its public sector bent and prowess in professional services. Its calendar 2023 gross invoiced income (GII) hit £569.9m.
Ultima, whose 2024 revenues of £120.2m were enough to rank it 39th in the same report, packs relatively more beef among corporate clients and in managed services, meanwhile (read more about their respective services transformations here and here).
“When you combine the two businesses, we are about 50-50 [public vs private sector], which is excellent,” said Williams, who will be CEO of the combined outfit.
“We both have a healthy mix of product and services, but the majority of that in the Trustmarque world is professional services, whereas Ultima is very managed services [focused].
“I’m thinking of it either as a jigsaw or a yinyang, where you have multiple pieces coming together to create a beautiful picture.”
£1bn “magic marker”
The deal puts Trustmarque on a “trajectory towards” £1bn GII, which Williams characterised as a “magic marker” (echoing the sentiments of his opposite number at boxxe following its recent acquisition of CAE).
“But the real opportunity is for our people, because of the breadth of technology,” Williams added.
“At Trustmarque, we may be very strong in Microsoft, Cisco, IBM and Hitachi Vantara, but Ultima are very strong in Microsoft, HPE and Citrix, and through Just After Midnight (JAM) also have AWS.
“That starts giving us a greater level of technology expertise for our team. With more scale, there’s a greater opportunity for people to have bigger roles, to do things more strategically, and to get involved in the integration, [as well as] a greater level of learning and development.”
“Scott has done an incredible job”
The deal is the culmination of a two-and-a-half year M&A hunt by Trustmarque, which last made an acquisition in February 2023 in the form of Livingstone (see here for Williams’ comments on this).
With Trustmarque and Ultima’s respective private-equity backers, One Equity Partners and Apse Capital, both taking a “merger-like” stake in the enlarged company, the deal is being characterised as a merger rather than an acquisition.
“We haven’t made a brand decision,” Williams added.
“Our view is to do it properly, not quickly. I would say in early 2026 we’ll have made a decision and communicated it to market.”
The two businesses will operate independently until the deal’s slated completion in around two weeks’ time, Williams said.
While Ultima CFO Jamie Beaumont will become CFO of the combined company, Ultima CEO Scott Dodds’ role going forwards is “still being decided”.
“Scott has done an incredible job of turning Ultima into a managed services company,” Williams said.
“I came out of a systems integrator and into the channel two-and-a-half years ago, and found that a number of CEOs of technically competing businesses are actually really open and nice people. Scott was at the front of that list.
“Scott is currently in conversations with Apse in terms of what he’s doing going forward.”
“I think that’s brilliant”
Post-merger, the enlarged business will generate around 60% of its gross profit from product, and 40% from services, Williams said.
“From speaking to a number of my peers in the industry, I think that’s brilliant, and we’re about the same on both sides,” he said.
Trustmarque’s Livingstone and Acutest businesses, alongside Ultima’s JAM arm will act as “high-value sub brands” under the enlarged business, Williams stressed.
“There are already some really interesting interplays we’re talking about between Livingstone and JAM, for example, where they can start working together across the globe,” he said.
“We’re in a world where product is an absolutely critical part of our business, but we have to have that diversification [via services], as we do with IP,” Williams concluded.
Doug Woodburn is editor of IT Channel Oxygen
