Telford IT firm is snapped up for £3.9 million

IT specialist Rockford IT Ltd has been bought by Liverpool-based SysGroup, an IT services and cloud hosting provider based in Liverpool, in the multi-million deal.

SysGroup is one of the UK’s fastest growing managed IT services and cloud hosting providers. The group has customers across the financial services, insurance, retail, technology, education and private health sectors. SysGroup PLC acquired an 100 per cent stake in the company, a specialist provider of Managed IT, Hosting and Security Services.

Based in Telford and established in 2001, Rockford provides managed hosting services, a 24/7 IT service desk, IT security, connectivity services and disaster recovery solutions to about 200 clients.

Its customer base is made up of SMEs, local authorities, education organisations, professional services and blue chip customers within the UK.

For the 12 months ended July 31, 2017 Rockford reported revenues of £4.45m and pre-tax profits of £430,000.

Opportunities

Rockford’s technical capabilities and sales staff have enabled the company to become the first in the UK to gain WatchGuard Platinum Partner status in 2015, and it is now one of only two Platinum Partners.

It has allowed Rockford to be a “one-stop shop” solution provider of WatchGuard’s extensive portfolio of IT related security products and services.

The acquisition and associated transaction costs are being financed from SysGroup’s existing cash resources and bank facilities.

Chris Evans, chief executive of SysGroup, said: “The acquisition is in line with our strategy, supplementing our organic growth whilst enhancing our services portfolio and providing cross-selling opportunities for products and services. Rockford further solidifies our presence in existing markets and also expands the Group into new verticals such as hotels and leisure.

“The market for managed IT services remains highly fragmented and ripe for consolidation. We believe that this acquisition enhances our position to capitalise on the substantive market opportunity available. We would like to welcome the Rockford team into our group and we look forward to leveraging our newly combined and deeper skills to further our organic growth.”