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Manchester cloud computing firm acquired for £7 million

Cloud computing company iomart has announced the multi-million pound acquisition of Manchester-based solutions firm Melbourne today.

Melbourne has been bought for £7 million and will provide iomart with its data centres in the North West city to increase data capacity as well as allowing a platform for iomart to serve the North of England.

Melbourne’s customer base is upwards of 600 customers, with the company quoting a turnover of £2.9 million in the year up to the end of 2011 and net assets of £0.26 million.

Glasgow-based iomart is one of the UK’s leaders in cloud computing, specialising in design, business management and delivery, as well as offering hosting services to organisations.

Angus MacSween, CEO of iomart Group plc, said: “This is an important acquisition for us as it gives us our first physical data centre presence in the North of England.

“It increases iomart Group’s network of fully owned and managed UK data centres to seven and puts us firmly at the heart of the growing online and media business hub that Manchester has become”

Melbourne will receive £6.5 million on completion, with the deferral of two amounts of £0.25 million due after the company systems are successfully integrated with the buyer.

Daniel Keighron-Foster is the CEO of Melbourne. He commented: ““I have spent over 10 years building a successful hosting company which prides itself on the reliable and personal service it gives to customers, which is something that iomart is also passionate about.

“I believe that Melbourne’s great local reputation and iomart Group’s established status as one of the UK’s leading hosting providers will be a powerful combination and I’m looking forward to this next stage.”

Additionally, iomart has acquired a web hosting firm, Skymarket for a maximum figure of £1.24 million.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Miranda Dobson .