The newly formed Daisy Group has announced its first two acquisitions since the company was listed on AIM last month.
2007 Young Gun and chief executive of the group Matthew Riley announced the deals yesterday, just a month after Daisy Communications, the telecoms provider he set up in 2001, reversed into the AIM-listed Freedom4 Group (formerly Pipex).
Freedom4 paid £81m in a mixture of cash and new shares for Daisy, giving Riley, the firm’s founder and sole shareholder, a £30m cash windfall and £51m in shares.
The new group raised £83m through a placing at 4p a share, and is now buying the trading assets of AT Communications Group Plc for £7m in cash and the issue of 1.17 million warrants. Daisy Group is also purchasing the assets of Eurotel Ltd for £13.5m cash and the issue of 584,795 warrants.
Riley, who completed 23 acquisitions before joining forces with Freedom4, said the deals would take them further towards the goal of becoming a serious rival to BT in the mid-market.
“These transactions are the first steps for Daisy in executing its strategy to consolidate the fragmented reseller market and become a dominant force in the SME and mid-market arena,” he said.
“Both companies have good reputations within the industry and, as part of the group, will support Daisy in delivering an excellent service in all areas of communications, from product quality to customer service, further strengthening our converged product set and enhancing our offering to the UK business community.”
© Crimson Business Ltd. 2009