Ekco, one of Europe’s fastest-growing security-first managed cloud services providers, has acquired IT and cyber security specialist Bluecube in a move that will more than double the size of its UK operations and brings the company’s revenue beyond £125M.
This transformative acquisition positions Dublin-headquartered Ekco as a key player in the UK managed service provider (MSP) space. The move marks Ekco’s largest ever acquisition, its third in the UK in the last year, and adds further strategic services to its UK offering.
As well as offering a mature and robust managed service business, Bluecube has a 24x7x365 security operations centre in Milton Keynes that will enable dedicated IT security services to be delivered in the UK on behalf of Ekco’s local clients. The acquisition will also add enhanced critical recovery capabilities to Ekco’s portfolio of services, which will further bolster its incident response offering to all of its customers, as many organisations struggle to respond to cyber incidents such as ransomware, phishing and malware.
The managed service space is a rapidly expanding part of the IT sector globally as clients increasingly demand a known and trusted cybersecurity partner in the face of ever-evolving and increasingly sophisticated threats. The sector is expected to grow to a global value of almost $1TN in the next decade.
Commenting on the deal, Jonathan Crowe, co-founder and COO of Ekco, said:
“Organisations throughout the country lean heavily on their MSP to underpin their IT services with security, efficiencies and expertise. These are business critical functions and, with this deal, we are able to expand our best-in-class services to both new and existing clients.
“This deal forms a key part of our overall growth strategy, which is driven by a vision of unlocking the full potential of insightful and responsive IT and cyber security solutions to our growing customer base.”
Having access to Bluecube’s 200+ people, all with specialist skills, as well as their impressive list of customers, made this an easy decision for us. As soon as we met the Bluecube team, we knew they would be a great operational and cultural fit for Ekco and would significantly enhance our ability to serve our UK customers.”
Ekco has undergone rapid expansion across all its major markets in Europe in recent years, fuelled by a mix of organic and M&A-led growth. It also has a local presence in the US, with an office located in Boston, further signs of its ambitious expansion plans. The company has significantly increased its operations, growing from 80 people to more than 860 in just four years, almost 600 of whom are engineers.
The acquisition by Ekco was also welcomed by Bluecube CEO James Hawker, who added: “At Bluecube our team has built a reputation on providing customer-centred services that address the ever-changing requirements of a diverse range of organisations.
“There is a close cultural fit between the two companies and we see multiple benefits from the deal for both staff and customers alike.”
In the past year Ekco has also acquired xTEN, which specialises in Azure and SQL Server, and iSYSTEMS, a managed services provider with expertise in public cloud migrations.
Ekco’s growth continued in 2023 after securing the backing of Corten Capital, a London-based fund that invests in entrepreneur-led B2B technology platforms.
On the Bluecube deal, financial and tax due diligence was provided by Deloitte and commercial due diligence was conducted by CIL Management Consultants. Squire Patton Boggs acted as legal advisers.
