A £7m-turnover IT services company with more than 500 business clients across Yorkshire and the North East has been acquired by a Manchester-based counterpart in a deal that is set to create a “Northern IT Powerhouse”, with due diligence support from Dow Schofield Watts.
Blue Logic was established in 2007 and has its head office in Leeds and well as sites in Hull and Stockton. It has been acquired by IT cloud and managed services specialist BCN Group.
The deal will support BCN’s growth agenda, enabling it to support for businesses across the North of England. It is intended to offer customers of both businesses a wider set of products and expertise and specifically introduces Sage Accounting and CRM into BCN’s portfolio.
Blue Logic’s 90 employees, largely in engineering and sales, will remain Yorkshire/Stockton-based after merging with BCN’s 50 strong workforce.
Simon Kelf, chief executive of BCN Group, said: “The essence of BCN Group’s success is to provide market leading IT and cloud support to local businesses from a local centre. The acquisition of Blue Logic is a critical step in our journey as it provides us with a second core site to expand our geographical footprint so we can service customers across Northern England. I have been very impressed by the skills and expertise of the Leeds team, and I am incredibly excited about the potential we have created to accelerate the growth of our business.
“This is a pivotal strategic step for our group. BCN combined with Blue Logic can become the Northern IT Powerhouse for managed services. Joining forces will strengthen our reach and help to expand our capabilities whilst continuing excellent levels of service.”
Dave Helm, co-founder of Blue Logic, added: “I am deeply proud of the business and everyone in it. We have achieved great things over the last 12 years which is testament to our commitment to our customers and the service we deliver. I am genuinely excited about the future. I believe this collaboration will deliver huge opportunities to our customers and team.
“BCN demonstrated a strong culture and approach to their customers and team, one that we could identify with at Blue Logic. This, combined with their commitment to innovation, made the decision to join forces an easy one.”
Ben Taylor and Graham Pearce of KPMG advised Blue Logic on the sale.
Nisha Sharma, director and KPMG’s head of technology in the North West, said: “The IT services market is a dynamic space in M&A terms as businesses fight for scale in order to grow market share at speed. This deal is a great example of an ambitious business growing its geographical footprint to achieve revenues at a pace. We anticipate significant activity in the IT services sector as it’s currently ripe for consolidation.”
Blue Logic was also advised by law firm Walker Morris while BCN Group was advised by DLA Piper.
