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Although it’s a bit out of our area, I was interested to read that Cisco had bought Wiltshire-based Ubiquisys for $310m. Ubiquisys provides“small cell telecoms technology which uses local hubs to enhance mobile call quality and data connection”. Seems like another profitable exit for Advent Venture Partners. Ubiquisys had revenues of $22.7m in 2011 and operating losses of $6m – so this is a rich valuation but shows the value of ‘strategic acquisitions’ as Cisco drives into mobile networking. Ubiquisys had raised a further $19m of funding just last August from new investors Mobile Internet Capital and Nissay Capital, and existing investors including 5CCG/Sallfort Privatbank AG,Accel Partners, Atlas Venture, Yasuda as well as Advent.
On the one hand this really shows the growing value – even resurgence – in UK tech innovation and the value put on our innovative companies by global companies. On the other hand it is yet another example of a UK company being acquired by an overseas company. Another ‘Dearly Departed’. We rarely seem to report this happening the other way around! Maybe this is what the UK is destined to be – a nursery for big global companies? Some would settle for that. I wouldn’t. I’d like the UK to have more global companies of its own. Something that gets further away with each ‘Dearly Departed’ we report.
