BGF investment in Apprentify
BGF investment in Evolve B G
We were introduced to Blacksquare when we started to explore Corporate Finance advice and support. Omaier and Jason took the time to thoroughly research our business and industry to build a strong understanding of our business model ahead of the introductory meeting and subsequent pitch process. Having access to, and dealing with, the Partners of Blacksquare directly on a day-to-day basis throughout a transaction, each with a wealth of experience and knowledge, with the comfort that they would drive the process from start to finish and be thoroughly in the detail of our business, were all key factors in our decision-making process to appoint Blacksquare. As we started to work closer together, both Omaier and Jason worked tirelessly to fully understand our business and guided us on strategic decisions and shareholder options. Being available anytime we needed advice or guidance is a testament to their dedication.
Alan Stephenson-Brown
CEO of Evolve
Blacksquare Advisory advised the shareholders of Evolve B G Limited, a provider of managed network solutions, on the sale of a minority interest to BGF.
Value: Not disclosed
Location: Wigan
Investor: BGF
Headquartered in Wigan, Evolve specialises in providing actively managed, fully outsourced enterprise grade network solutions and complementary IT support services.
Evolve provides multi-site customers with a full end-to-end, mission critical common network infrastructure which is infinitely scalable, customised and configured to user needs, with SD-WAN technology at the core of the offering.
Long-standing, blue-chip customers include the likes of Euro Garages, KFC, O’Connor Utilities, Asda and Robinsons Brewery.
With a customer-centric operating model including a multi-lingual 24/7, 365 days a year, UK based managed network operations centre, together with digital fail over protections such as 4G back-ups in each router and remote rebooters, Evolve actively manages customers’ site uptime to a market-leading standard often mitigating issues before customer knowledge.
Investment from private equity was sought by the owner-managers to both de-risk their ‘current’ position whilst ‘reinvesting’ alongside an institutional partner to participate in the considerable future upside as the business continues to scale and capitalise on multiple growth opportunities.
Blacksquare Advisory fully managed the process from start to finish, from preparing a suite of marketing materials, underpinned by extensive data analysis to support investor discussions, to driving the commercial negotiations with BGF and co-ordinating the multiple parties involved during the transaction.
BGF emerged as a standout investor for the shareholders, developing a strong connection with management during the course of discussions and demonstrating the value-add they could provide. BGF has a strong focus on the business and support services, having invested more than £350 million supporting in excess of 50 businesses, with the management shareholders recognising that BGF has the right level of experience that Evolve required as an ambitious and fast-growth business, with the added benefits of a dedicated value creation team and strong network.
The transaction involved both cash out proceeds for the incumbent shareholders with additional growth capital invested into the business to help support and accelerate the strategic ambition of the shareholders and management team.
Evolve Business Group secures multi-million-pound BGF investment to drive ambitious growth