Entanet: Entanet downloads £6M investement from leading private equity firm Mobeus
Leading wholesale communications provider, Entanet, has announced a significant investment in its business that will greatly support its competitive development in the UK connectivity services market.
Highly experienced mid-market equity investor Mobeus Equity Partners (www.mobeusequity.co.uk) is making an initial £6 million investment to support the £14 million management buyout. Entanet’s founder, Jason Tsai, will remain a significant shareholder.
The investment will support Entanet’s plans to continue its business growth over the coming years. Entanet is an established provider of wholesale communications services in the UK, enabling more than 2,000 partners to offer a wide range of connectivity options to predominantly business customers, from copper and fibre broadband services to tailored IP Virtual Private Networks (IP VPNs) and standalone Ethernet circuit solutions.
Entanet is unique in remaining the only channel-focused non-BT company to have built out its 39 PoP network to every one of the 20 key aggregation points that form BT’s 21st Century Network UK-wide; and also to have fully-adopted both the Wholesale Broadband Connect (WBC) and IPStream Connect (IPSC) services. This gives Entanet full control of its network and enables the company to provide partners and customers with reliable, high-quality connectivity services, with guaranteed levels of bandwidth, availability and service levels.
Elsa Chen, Managing Director of Entanet, stated: “Mobeus is a highly-respected mid-market equity investor and we see this investment as a major vote of confidence in the long-term prospects for Entanet’s business. It will strengthen our strategy of building a solid loyal partner channel that is capable of driving steady, stable and sustainable growth over the long term. It will also support the continuing investment we are making in our network and in developing and delivering new services that enable our partners to offer more choice and value to the widest range of customers.”
Ashley Broomberg, Partner at Mobeus, commented: “Entanet has a great reputation and a sound and proven business model. We are delighted to provide our support for the company’s growth plans and look forward to working with the management team to build on its firm foundations in the growing connectivity services sector.”
As part of the transaction, Mobeus has introduced non-executive director Richard Atkins as investing Chairman to advise Entanet at a strategic level. Atkins has significant telecoms experience and a strong track record in delivering growth in private equity backed businesses. Atkins was previously Non-Executive Director of Global Crossing UK plc, Morse plc, and MessageLabs Group Ltd.
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About Entanet
Entanet is a leading wholesale voice and data communications provider and operates via a network of wholesale and resale channel partners. It was founded in 1996 by Taiwanese ‘Comms Business channel entrepreneur of the year’ winner Jason Tsai and employs over 80 staff at its offices in Telford, Shropshire.
Entanet offers an extensive portfolio of connectivity services, including wholesale and packaged broadband, leased lines, EFM, IP VPNs, hosting and co-location, VoIP and traditional telecoms. The company operates its own fully-resilient nationwide next generation network which enables it and its partners to provide up to 10Gbps capacity to customers right across the UK. In addition, it has further connectivity into Amsterdam and Frankfurt and over 900 peering relationships across Europe.
The quality of Entanet’s services and its commitment to partners has been widely recognised. The company was recently named Best Channel ISP in the 2013 Comms National Awards and as the winner in the 2013 ISPA Awards for Best Business Fixed Broadband. In the Comms National Awards 2012 it was awarded Best Channel Wholesale Service Provider. It also received the ISPA award for Best Internet Telephony in 2011 and was short-listed in the Specialist Services Vendor of the Year in the CRN Channel Awards – an accolade it has won twice in recent years. The company has also been listed on a number of occasions in the Sunday Times Tech Track 100, Deloitte Technology Fast 500 EMEA and other listings of fast-growing, privately-held UK companies.
For more information, please contact:
Darren Farnden, Head of Marketing
Entanet International Ltd
Tel: 0333 101 0000
Email: marketing@enta.net
About Mobeus Equity Partners
Mobeus is a leading UK VCT Manager with over £190 million funds under management and is an active investor in privately owned UK smaller businesses. Recent investments include Bourn Hall [£3.5 million, January 2014], Virgin Wines [£8.7 million, November 2013], Veritek [£6.9 million, July 2013], ATG Media [£4.5 million, April 2013], Gro Group [£6.9 million, March 2013] and Motorclean [£3.2 million, February 2013]. For more information, visit www.mobeusequity.co.uk
For more information, contact:
Laura Marsh, Executive Assistant
Mobeus Equity Partners LLP
Tel: 020 7024 7617
Email: laura.marsh@mobeusequity.co.uk