Calligo Buying Spree Provides Exits For Three Tech Founders
Calligo boss Julian Box has had Irish acquisitions on his mind since 2016, when his Jerseybased business tied down a $20m investment from Investcorp. Box then embarked on an M&A strategy that has seen Calligo acquire eight businesses, including three in Ireland in 2020.
Calligo is a managed service provider and Box’s strategy is to assemble an MSP with bolt-on acquisitions. Box commenced his Irish buying spree in January 2020 with DC Networks.
Owned by Max Colmer
(43) and Robert Doyle
(48), the business was established in 2005 to provide IT support, telecoms and network managed services.
In the year to August 2019, DC Networks booked a net profit of €690,000, trade debtors were €520,000, and net current assets were €860,000. The owners drew down dividends of €240,000 in 2018/19 and a further €700,000 as part of the deal process.
In June 2020, Calligo acquired Itomic Voice & Data, which also operates in the MSP space. Owned by Mark Condon (51) and Paul Condon (41), Itomic Ltd was incorporated in 2000. In the year to October 2019, the company booked a profit of €1m and the Condons drew down dividends of €1.4m. Net current assets at financial year-end were €680,000, including trade debtors amounting to €800,000.
Calligo’s most recent acquisition, Cinnte Technologies, was effected in November 2020. Founder and sole shareholder Danny Barr (36) established the venture in 2010, and the company had net current assets of €37,000 in April 2019.
According to Box (52), the Covid-19 pandemic will provide opportunities for additional mergers and acquisitions activity. “Overall interest in the MSP space from private equity investors is greater than it has been for a long time,” he commented recently.