21st September 2022

ITS Technology Group acquires NextGenAccess kickstarting its ‘build and buy’ strategy

Wholesale full fibre provider ITS Technology Group has completed the acquisition of dark fibre specialist NextGenAccess Ltd.

ITS Technology Group acquires NextGenAccess kickstarting its ‘build and buy’ strategy

The deal adds 455km of dark fibre across Greater London, Newport, and South Essex to complement ITS’ existing full fibre footprint which is on track to pass 25% (c.500,000) of UK business premises by the end of this year. Alongside ITS’ strong organic growth and positive EBITDA position, the acquisition kickstarts its ‘build and buy’ strategy following its second round Aviva infrastructure funding which secured a further £100m in April this year.

ITS designs, builds and operates wholesale full fibre networks known as ‘Faster Britain’ in the marketplace. It has built a substantial partner offering which includes an industry-leading self-service search, quote and order portal and APIs giving access to gigabit-capable full fibre solutions to any business across the country.

The additional footprint provided by the acquisition of NextGenAccess, coupled with the highly experienced senior management team and staff, and the significant enhancement to the portfolio of dark fibre services, further enriches what ITS can offer to its channel partners and their customers.

The acquisition will also allow ITS to grow its presence in the data centre connectivity marketplace, further developing NextGenAccess’ impressive proposition. As a provider of ‘trunk’ connectivity, NextGenAccess has high levels of trust alongside high standards of delivery in this space, which is seen as a key growth area for ITS.

Daren Baythorpe, CEO of ITS Technology Group, said: “The acquisition of NextGenAccess adds depth to the innovative and business enhancing services we offer to our partners and their customers, cementing our place as one of the leading wholesale fibre providers in the UK. I’m really excited for this next phase of our business.”

Mark Weller, managing director at NextGenAccess, said: “Following a successful period of growth, backed by Amber Infrastructure since 2018, the time is right to take the next step and allow our partners and their customers to benefit from our significant joint capability and experience in the full fibre market. We are all very pleased that the ITS values and culture are extremely close to those already present within NextGenAccess which should make the integration of the businesses seamless.”

Chris Hogg, senior investment director at Amber Infrastructure, said: “We have worked closely with the NextGenAccess management team to develop the business since our investment in 2018. The combination of NextGenAccess with ITS enhances their footprint and gives significant joint capability and experience in the UK enterprise fibre market, helping to further accelerate the combined group’s planned fibre deployment.”

Dow Schofield Watts provided Corporate Finance Advisory (Mark Watts, Dave Graham, and Phil Hodgson) and FDD support (Catriona Lang and Ros Jones) for the transaction for ITS, and Hill Dickinson provided legal advice.