London, 21 July 2010 - Global provider of managed solutions, Easynet, has today reached an agreement with BSkyB (Sky) over the proposed sale of Easynet Global Services and its subsidiaries to Lloyds Development Capital (LDC), a leading UK private equity company.
LDC will pay Sky £100 million for the business on completion of the transaction, which is subject to regulatory approval and a works council consultation in respect of certain Easynet employees. The existing Easynet management team, including CEO David Rowe, has demonstrated a strong track record over a number of years and will have the full backing of LDC, which is fully funded by the Lloyds Banking Group. Staff numbers will be unaffected by the sale.
Sky will retain the UK network assets that it acquired as part of the original acquisition of Easynet Group in 2005. As part of the proposed sale, Sky and LDC will enter into a long-term supply agreement in which Easynet Global Services will have continued access to Sky’s fibre network. BSkyB will also continue to be a business customer of Easynet.
David Rowe, Chief Executive Officer, Easynet, commented: “This is an excellent opportunity for Easynet, its customers, and its staff. It provides us with additional capital to help fund the company’s next phase of development and allows us to retain a business relationship with Sky. Since we’ve been a part of the BSkyB family we’ve grown in stature, both in the UK and globally, our revenue has increased organically by over 40%, we’re profitable and also generating cash. Over and above this we’ve continued to win new customers in the fast-growing segments of managed hosting, video conferencing and IP solutions whilst maintaining growth and innovation in our network services and products.”
Sky acquired the Easynet Group in 2005 to support its strategy of diversifying into consumer broadband and home telephony. Following the successful launch of Sky’s residential communications services and the continued growth and profitability of Easynet’s Enterprise business, the decision was made to look at options to divest the Global Services business as it is no longer core to Sky’s longer-term strategic goals.
About Easynet Global Services
Easynet Global Services is a worldwide provider of managed network, managed hosting and value added integration services such as Telepresence.
Through a consultative approach, it engages with its customers to fully understand their business challenges. This enables Easynet Global Services to deploy carefully considered, end-to-end solutions that deliver guaranteed ROI and provide its customers a truly competitive edge.
The company combines global reach with local expertise, providing a personalised customer experience wherever its customers are in the world.
With a proven track record, Easynet Global Services’ customers include Via Michelin, FOX, Brinks, Transport for London, EDF, SAGE, Q Park and Bridgestone.
Easynet Global Services is part of the British Sky Broadcasting group, a NewsCorp company. BSkyB’s turnover for 2008/9 was £5.3bn.
About Easynet Connect
Easynet Connect is a leading provider of quality connectivity and internet access for small to medium size businesses. Established in 1994 and part of BSkyB Group, Easynet Connect is one of the largest networks in the UK with 6030km of fibre and last mile access to more than 70% of UK businesses via a network of more than 1,200 unbundled exchanges.
Easynet Connect is the first ISP to launch a reliable fixed-rate 100 Mbps fibre service across London, as well as being the first in the UK to have provided DSL services over an unbundled local loop and has pioneered managed LLU services for business. Easynet Connect’s services range from business class ADSL and SDSL through to high-quality, leased line equivalent and Ethernet based services. Our SDSL coverage is currently the most extensive in the UK.
We offer a range of uncontended symmetrical speeds up to 1Gbps, all backed by 24x7 UK-based network monitoring and customer support, 99.9% Service Level Guarantees and an enviable 95% First Time Fix rate.
Our 20-day installation pledge for some of our EtherStream and SureStream products is the shortest of the few installation pledges currently available on the market.
For more information visit www.easynetconnect.net or call 0800 053 1777
Media enquiries contact Linda Harris, linda.harris@uk.easynet.net 020 7032 5073 or George Wright or Joseph Thomas, easynetconnect@brands2life.com on 0207 592 1200.