Acquisitive, AIM-listed hosting play, Iomart, has added another splash of tartan to the mix, with the acquisition of Glasgow-based, privately held hosting firm, EQSN, its 9th acqusition to date. Iomart will pay nearly £2.5m cash, almost all up front, from a combination of its own reserves and a £1m drawdown from its loan facility. EQSN also has £225k cash in its piggy bank, coincidentally (!) the value of the deferred consideration.
EQSN, which has data centres in Glasgow, Edinburgh, and that other well-known Scottish enclave, Boston, turned over £1.7m in the year to 31st July 2011, at a 14.7% EBITDA margin, just over half that of Iomart (see Iomart sweats more revenue and profit). On the face of it, this seems to be relatively speaking a more expensive buy than Iomart’s last, that of hosting firm Switch Media (see Iomart expands SME hosting business), but EQSN appears to be more profitable. Iomart’s stock has been doing pretty well so far this year – up well over 30% ytd.
You’ll be seeing much more in depth analysis on the UK infrastructure services market in coming weeks from our latest recruit, Phil Codling – it’s hot, hot, hot!