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Kerv adds Market-Leading Digital Transformation Capabilities with Purchase of cloudThing
13/05/2021

Kerv Completes Its Fifth, And Largest Deal In 10 Months, Trebling Headcount And Establishing An Industry-Leading Capability In The Growing Digital Transformation Market

Harlequin Corporate Finance supported Kerv in respect of identifying cloudThing

London, May 6, 2021 - Kerv, a Cloud Centric Managed Service and Infrastructure Transformation Provider, has announced the acquisition of cloudThing, a market leader in digital transformation and specialist in Microsoft Dynamics & Power Platform plus Bespoke Software Development. Recently ranked as one of the Best Companies to Work for in the UK by Best Companies, cloudThing is one of the fastest growing tech companies in the UK according to the Sunday Times Tech Track 100.

Following today’s acquisition of cloudThing, the combined group is now a £35m revenue business with more than 330 employees, serving over 800 customers, with offices in London, Birmingham, and Bangalore, India. Whilst continuing its focus on strong and sustainable organic growth, the company will also look at acquiring businesses which add new capabilities to further enhance its cloud and digital credentials and/or bring new vertical opportunities.

Explaining the rationale behind the deal, Alastair Mills, executive chairman at Kerv, said: “This acquisition is a significant step for Kerv and a major investment in the rapidly growing digital transformation market. We are combining our existing cloud managed services and infrastructure transformation capability with cloudThing’s digital transformation proposition thanks to their combination of DevOps, Data Science, and software engineering services. Every aspect of cloudThing - from its strong organic growth model, culture, people, leadership and approach to customers - makes it an ideal fit for the Kerv group.”

cloudThing was founded in 2012 and has become a major UK digital transformation success story by helping businesses take advantage of the powerful technology available in the cloud. The company is a Microsoft Gold Partner and has excellent credentials in the government, non-profit and membership organisation verticals. The team of 220 staff including Developers, Solution Architects, Data Analysts and DevSecOps specialists are based in the UK and in Bangalore, India. cloudThing will continue to operate in its existing form as a division of Kerv, with the founders remaining with the business to assist with the next phase of growth. Current COO Stuart Harper assumes the role of cloudThing Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and joins the Kerv management team along with Mike Wrout, Chief Customer Officer.

“Kerv offers something genuinely unique, a group of complementary cloud and digital organisations that are experts at what they do, given further scale and enhanced capabilities as part of the group,” said Stuart Harper, CEO of cloudThing. “Kerv’s commitment to organic growth, underpinned by a focus on customer experience and employee engagement is central to our own culture and our belief in the mission of the group as a whole. It became clear early on in our discussions that both organisations were aligned behind similar values. The whole team at cloudThing is delighted to be joining Alastair, Mike and the crew at Kerv.”

Mike Ing, Managing Director at Kerv commented that whilst this transaction represents the company’s fifth deal in less than a year, the focus remains firmly on delivering sustainable organic growth: “Over the years we have seen many companies in our space grow rapidly through acquisition, only to be followed by aggressive centralisation and cost-cutting and eventually, any organic growth evaporates. Our strategy is different. We are firmly focussed on delivering sector-leading organic growth by embracing the character of each complementary business within the group, ensuring we continue to focus on what has made them a success whilst leveraging our respective strengths. The combination with cloudThing is a great example of our approach.”

Kerv, led by Executive Chair Alastair Mills and Managing Director Mike Ing, was formed in July 2020 in partnership with mid-market private equity house, LDC, to build a cloud-centric business model focused on the provision of IT managed services, DevOps, digital transformation and cybersecurity. It first came to market following the £30 million merger of three cloud transformation businesses: DoubleEdge, Foehn, and Metaphor IT. Since then Kerv has also completed the acquisition of UCNS Managed IT.

cloudThing is Kerv’s fifth acquisition in under a year and its largest to date in terms of value, revenue and headcount. The deal was funded using part of a recently announced £70 million credit facility.

Ian Freeman of Harlequin Corporate Finance comments.” cloudThing is the 7^th transaction that we have completed with Alastair Mils and Mike Ing over the last 13 years. I look forward to helping Kerv identify further complementary businesses”

About Kerv

Combining the world’s best cloud-centric managed services with a uniquely collaborative way of working, Kerv helps businesses get ahead – and stay there. Our team of experts focus on the bigger picture - your business goals, and we create the right cloud solutions to help you achieve them. Our commitment to our customers leads to transformative solutions and our people are key to delivering excellence.

For further information, visit: www.kervgroup.com

About cloudThing

cloudThing solves complicated problems with great digital experiences. They combine Power Platform, DevSecOps, Data Science and Software Engineering to achieve measurable business outcomes for their clients. Named as one of the top 50 technology organisations to work for in the UK, they hire genuine experts who help businesses to make the most of their data and future-proof their organisation with cloud technology.

For further information, visit: www.cloudthing.com

About Harlequin Corporate Finance

Harlequin is a Corporate Finance Consultancy based near Henley-on-Thames, UK. It was established in1999 and as an organisation has significant experience working for private companies like Circle, Optimity and Telappliant. Ian Freeman, prior to setting up Harlequin, worked for multinational corporations including Black & Decker and Vodafone as well as in a VC backed MBO, Sterry Group.

Harlequin works on the buy side of acquisitions mainly in the IT and Telecoms sectors.

For further information, visit: www.harlequincf.co.uk/

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