£35m management buyout at Wavenet

ASOLIHULL firm has £35 million buyout.

Wavenet, based in Shirley, provides communication products and services to small businesses in the UK and has more than 2,000 customers. communications undergone a management

Beech Tree Private Equity and Royal Bank of Scotland have provided the funding for the buyout and committed a “significant acquisition war chest” to allow the business to make a number of bolt-on deals.

The business was founded by Chris Jones in 2000 and in 2008 the current chief executive Bill Dawson invested and joined the business.

Andrew Ashton has joined business as finance director Edward Spurrier, the former the and chief executive of Alternative Networks, has been appointed chairman. Paul Franks and Adam Rudd from Beech Tree Private Equity will join the board.

Mr Franks said: “We are really excited to be working with Wavenet and have been extremely impressed with the technology and expertise that the team have created within the business.

“The management team have clearly invested heavily in the technology and infrastructure which will make the delivery of our growth plans much easier. We are also backing a team that have completed several acquisitions very successfully in the past and, with the capital we have injected to make acquisitions, we think we can significantly grow the business together”.

The other firms acting on the deal were Eversheds, Oakley Advisory, PwC, Diligent Consultancy, Orbis Corporate Finance, Higgs and Sons, Spencer Gardner Dickins, Gateley and Pinsent Masons.