2. Focus Group acquired by Hg
When: April
Magnitude
Business comms and IT specialist Focus turned over £156m in its fiscal 2022, ranking 25th in the recent Oxygen 250.
It acquisition by private equity firm Hg (from incumbent Bowmark Capital) valued it at just shy of £800m.
Rationale
Focus resolved to become a unicorn (a private company valued at $1bn or more) at a management away day in early 2023, Co-Founder Ralph Gilbert told IT Channel Oxygen.
“I said, ‘right, we want to be a unicorn’, and that’s kind of what we’ve been aiming for ever since. The amount we got is exactly a unicorn,” he said.
The fresh investment will also mean Focus has a “much larger warchest” for M&A, Gilbert claimed (it has since gone on to announce three more acquisitions).
What the Co-Founder said
“We were lucky enough to have a lot of options, especially in an industry where nothing has really sold for the last couple of years,” Ralph Gilbert
Fun fact
Focus’ deal was support by its peers, Gilbert claimed. “It’s quite unheard of when all your competitors are rooting for you. But everyone wanted us to get away with a good result,” he said.
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