Southampton: Clarke Willmott acts in Onecom deal
Law firm Clarke Willmott LLP has advised on the multi-million pound acquisition of telecoms provider Evolve by communications specialist Onecom.
Onecom will take over Evolve’s operations in London, Cambridge and Shoeburyness, along with Cardiff-based The Word, which is owned by Evolve and will become Onecom’s first office in Wales. The deal is expected to bring Onecom an additional £7 million of earnings before tax and deductions in the first 12 months.
Kelvin Balmont, partner at Clarke Willmott in Southampton who led on the deal, said: “This was a hugely significant deal for our client Onecom and strengthens the business’ reputation as a market leader.”
Onecom and Evolve are two of Vodafone UK’s largest business-to-business partners within the Vodafone Partner Programme. Evolve, with an annual turnover of around £20m a year, is Vodafone UK’s third-largest partner, while Onecom, which currently turns over £60m a year, is the largest. The deal means Onecom adds 65,000 UK Vodafone business connections to its portfolio of accounts – taking the company’s total number to well over 300,000.
