PE-backed telecoms group continues on acquisition trail

WHP Telecoms, which is backed by private-equity firm Equistone Partners Europe (Equistone), has continued its acquisition drive with the takeover of wireless design firm Blue Clarity Design Services. The deal, for an undisclosed sum, is WHP Telecoms’ second acquisition of the year and third since Equistone completed an MBO in 2018.

Following the MBO, the company adopted a strategy of targeting both organic and acquisitive growth. The company made its first acquisition in December 2019, with the takeover of Sitec Infrastructure Services. This was followed by its acquisition of Redhall Network Solutions in March 2021.

Based in Warrington, WHP has seven offices and around 700 staff. The company provides infrastructure support and deployment solutions for the UK telecoms sector, working with operators including BT, O2 and EE.

The company’s latest acquisition, Blue Clarity Design Services, is headquartered in County Down, Northern Ireland and also has a regional Glasgow office. It is a wireless design firm providing acquisition and design services to multi-site providers, operators and small works contractors in the UK and Ireland.

The acquisition gives WHP Telecoms the ability to in-source design and surveying capabilities and further grow its market share within the telecoms sector.

WHP CEO Rob Potter (pictured above) commented: “The team at Blue Clarity have developed an excellent reputation for their design capability in recent years and we are delighted to be welcoming them into WHP.”

“Design expertise and capacity are key enablers to delivering the high-volume complex programmes that our customers require. This acquisition strengthens the engineering base of the group and adds to our technical offering.”

Potter added: “This transaction closely follows our recent acquisition of Redhall Network Solutions and we believe that this further strengthens our client service offering, which will benefit the UK’s communication networks as investment in 5G and fibre gathers pace.”

In WHP’s most recent accounts, for the year ending May 31 2020, the company reported post-tax profits of close to £7.5 million on revenue of £80.1 million, up from £1.9 million in profit on £64.4 million turnover in 2019.


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