Kingston Communications is to acquire Smart421, the Ipswich-based IT services company, for £24m. The acquisition will be paid for in cash. Smart421 will continue to operate smart as a separate entity, but will complement Kingston's existing systems reseller and integration business, Affiniti. The brand name and management team will remain. In June this year, Smart421 had gross assets of £6.6m, of which £3.4m was cash or cash equivalents. Malcolm Fallen, CEo of Kingston Communications commented: "The acquisition of Smart421 provides an exciting opportunity for Kingston. The business has an outstanding reputation in the applications integration marketplace, offering a high quality service to its customers. The Group will benefit from the immediate extension of application-related skills, particularly through Smart421's Microsoft and IBM capabilities." Kingston Communications currently has around 139,000 broadband subscribers.