CVC Capital Partners has announced that funds advised by CVC have acquired Wireless Logic, from funds advised by ECI Partners for an undisclosed sum.
Wireless Logic was formed in 1999 by managing director, Oliver Tucker, and sales director, Philip Cole – both highly experienced operators in the telecoms and technology industries. During ECI’s period of investment Wireless Logic expanded internationally, opening offices in France, Germany and Spain and has nearly tripled the underlying subscriber base to approximately 1.5 million with profit and revenue growth in excess of 25% per annum (EBITDA CAGR was 31% and revenue CAGR 27%).
M2M managed services platforms, such as Wireless Logic, enable the Internet of Things (IoT). The total market for M2M connectivity and related services is forecast to grow from €7.1 billion in 2014 to €22.5 billion in 2019 and subscriptions from 214 to 600 million in the same period, representing a CAGR of 25.9% and 22.9% respectively. Gartner estimates that the number of wireless connected devices will reach 26 billion by 2020. Wireless Logic provides secure connectivity across 26 European mobile networks and satellite. Through its ‘one window to all networks’ platform, it overlays a range of value-added services including secure VPN, device management, and global mapping solutions.
Customers include high growth companies such as Just Eat – connecting remotely-based ordering systems, Isotrak – vehicle tracking and telematics, and Verifone – chip and pin applications including payment systems for London’s black taxis.
Paul McCreadie, partner in ECI’s TMT team, said: “It has been a pleasure partnering with Oliver and Phil over the past four years and working with them to deliver their vision for Wireless Logic. Since 2011, the business has achieved a huge amount and this deal adds to our strong track record in backing high growth tech businesses to expand internationally. We wish Oliver, Phil and everyone at Wireless Logic every success with their new partner as they continue to lead the M2M market in Europe.”
Aaron Dupuis, managing director, CVC Growth Partners, said: “We have been pro-actively targeting the M2M sector for investment due to the strong secular growth trends in the industry and identified Wireless Logic as one of the companies that is best positioned to benefit from these trends. Wireless Logic has established its market leading position in Europe by relentlessly focusing on customer satisfaction and quality of service.”
John Clark, managing partner, CVC Growth Partners, said: “We are very pleased to partner with Oliver, Phil and their team to help them continue to build on their track record of growth and international expansion.”
Oliver Tucker, founder and MD of Wireless Logic, said: “I would like to thank Paul and the team at ECI for the significant value that they added to help Wireless Logic become the leading M2M business in Europe. As a management team, we wanted to retain a significant portion of our equity in the company. Therefore, we sought out a partner who could help us maximise value going forward. CVC approached us before we had decided to pursue this transaction and demonstrated a clear understanding of our business and the strategic opportunity ahead. CVC’s global network, reach and resources will be tremendously supportive throughout our next phase of growth.”
Arma Partners acted as exclusive financial adviser to the shareholders of Wireless Logic.
