Whiteley: Onecom buys Evolve in deal set to bring £7m in first year
Leading business communications specialist Onecom, headquartered at Whiteley near Fareham, has acquired telecoms provider Evolve in a multi-million-pound deal which is expected to bring Onecom an additional £7 million of earnings before tax and deductions in the first 12 months.
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. Vodafone has no equity interest in either company.
The strategic acquisition is one of the most significant in Onecom’s history, consolidating the company’s position as the UK’s leading independent business-to-business communications provider. It will also enable further investment in its total communications drive, which sees mobile, fixed-line, data and IT services offered to businesses as one integrated, cost-effective package.
The deal will instantly add around 100 staff to Onecom’s existing 350-strong workforce, and 65,000 UK Vodafone business connections to its portfolio of accounts, taking the company’s total number to well over 300,000. All Evolve and The Word offices will adopt Onecom branding and customer-service systems as soon as is practical.
Darren Ridge, Onecom CEO, said: “Evolve is an extremely successful operation which will continue to blossom and grow under the Onecom brand.”
Nick Birtwistle, director of partnerships and alliances at Vodafone UK, said: “This deal between two key Vodafone UK partners is exciting news for our channel and our customers.”
The acquisition comes during a busy year for Onecom, which recently invested £1m in a new distribution centre in Hampshire as part of its commitment to providing efficient, speedy service to its customers. Earlier this month, the company won a top Vodafone UK-partner award when it was named as Vodafone UK’s Total Communications Partner 2016.
