Claranet acquires Ardenta to strengthen managed hosting offering
MSP moves to enhance skills in the management of high availability websites
Leading European managed services provider, Claranet, has acquired UK-based IT services provider Ardenta for an undisclosed sum. Ardenta specialise in the management of e-commerce systems, with a particular expertise in high-volume transactional database management. This expertise will complement Claranet’s growing application management capabilities, and its ability to help customers do amazing things with infrastructure on their own premises, Claranet’s cloud or on managed public cloud services.
Established in 2001, the Surrey-based company has annualised revenues of £6 million. While Ardenta works with a wide range of sectors, it has a particular focus on media and e-gaming, and counts the BBC, ITV, Ladbrokes and William Hill among its customers. The company will become part of the Claranet Group of companies, and Ardenta’s co-founders, Neil Truby and Scott Hanson, will work alongside Claranet’s senior management team to integrate the business and foster continued growth.
Michel Robert, Claranet UK’s Managing Director, said: “We are delighted to welcome Ardenta to the Claranet Group. Ardenta’s experience with e-commerce systems and database management will complement our in-house expertise, leading to new and improved services for our customers. This acquisition represents the latest in a line of strategically-important deals that we’ve made over the past two years across Europe.”
Claranet has grown steadily, both organically and via acquisition and this strategic partnership contributes further to Claranet’s ambitious growth strategy. The deal, which comes shortly after the acquisition of Diademys in France, means the expanded Claranet Group now has annualised revenues of £200 million, over 1,200 staff and over 5,700 customers in the UK, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Portugal.
Neil Truby, Co-founder and Managing Director at Ardenta, added: “We are excited to be joining the fast-growing Claranet Group. The move will allow us to capitalise on the economies of scale that moving into a larger company affords. Our customers will benefit from one of the widest portfolio of integrated IT services anywhere in Europe, as well as the considerable expertise accrued from Claranet’s 20 year history. There are considerable cultural and strategic similarities between Ardenta and Claranet so I am especially pleased to be joining and expect to see significant growth opportunities for us in the UK and Europe.”
About Claranet
Claranet’s IT services help our customers do amazing things. We simplify the management of IT services so our customers can concentrate on what they do best. By working with us our customers gain access to a wide range of integrated hosting, networks and communications managed services, as well as our support and expertise 24×7.
Founded in 1996, Claranet has evolved from a pioneering ISP (Internet Service Provider) into one of the leading independent MSPs (Managed Services Provider) in Europe. The company has annualised revenues of circa £200 million, 5,700 customers, 1,200 employees, and an international footprint in six countries.
While Claranet has grown internationally, the focus has always been on local service, out of local offices, using a mixture of local and international infrastructure, including public clouds. The company’s ambitious growth strategy has led to numerous acquisitions. On a constant currency basis, revenues have increased three fold in four years.
Claranet was recognised as a ‘Leader’, one of only five, in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Managed Hybrid Cloud Hosting, Europe (2016) for the fourth consecutive year.
