Law firm Gordons advises on Lumison acquisition

Yorkshire law firm Gordons has advised the management of Lumison – a UK provider of connectivity, hosting and managed IT services – on its acquisition by venture capitalist Bridgepoint Development Capital for an undisclosed sum.

The company, which is based in Edinburgh and London and has 2,500 clients throughout the UK, was established in 1995 and operates in the managed data centre services and hosting market. The transaction will see Bridgepoint acquire a majority stake in the company as a first step in building a larger IT services group focused on serving the high growth SME market.

Gordons corporate partner Peter Barton advised Lumison’s management team on their investment in the new company after being instructed by Mark Howling. A former client who was previously senior executive with Computacenter plc of and chief executive of another Bridgepoint investment in the sector, Mark has become executive chairman of Lumison. He will work with the existing management team to grow the business both organically and by serial acquisition.

Commenting on the acquisition, Mark said: “This was a very important deal for both Lumison and Bridgepoint. I had no hesitation in entrusting Peter Barton and his team at Gordons with advising Lumison’s management and the company is now in a position to undertake its next phase of development.”

The UK IT services sector, currently worth over £40bn and growing at five per cent per annum, is polarised between major players and a group of very small services providers. The planned ‘buy and build’ programme for Lumison aims to create a fully integrated, high quality, medium-sized services provider that can provide the full range of IT and network services a customer needs.

Peter said: “It was a pleasure to work with Mark again and it is clear that Bridgepoint and Lumison’s management team have the knowledge and determination to realise their ambitious growth plans. They have identified a clear commercial opportunity in the marketplace and they now have the investment necessary to develop their offer through organic growth and acquisition.”