ECI Partners invests in digital transformation specialists, BCN Group

We are delighted to announce that ECI Partners – the leading growth-focused mid-market private equity firm – has invested in BCN Group, one of the largest and fastest-growing independent Managed Service Providers in the north of England. The investment represents a full realisation for Beech Tree Private Equity who invested in BCN Group back in 2018.

Over the past four years, BCN has witnessed growth from c.£10m turnover to over £40m, through strong organic growth and executing a strategic acquisition strategy. As a business, we have evolved our capabilities from largely reselling IT hardware and IT support to where we now offer comprehensive digital transformation services across the Microsoft stack. BCN have also made significant investments in its people and processes, resulting in the ability to efficiently service thousands of customers whilst maintaining leading levels of customer satisfaction.

Testimonials

Rob Davies, CEO at BCN Group, comments: “In this age of digital transformation, there is a phenomenal growth opportunity for BCN Group to support clients to solve their IT challenges and achieve the best possible results from technology for their business. ECI are an experienced technology investor, so we are delighted to be partnering with them to deliver on our organic growth potential and to continue to deliver on our M&A strategy. I’d also like to thank Beech Tree for their investment and support over the last four years.”

Mark Keeley, Partner at ECI, comments: “BCN Group is a fantastic business that puts the customer at the heart of its organisation. The rising importance of IT, digital transformation, and cloud adoption, combined with BCN’s fantastic customer reputation, means that BCN is incredibly well positioned to further expand its capability, geographical presence and customer offering both organically and through M&A. We’re delighted to be partnering with Rob and the team for the next stage of their journey.”

Simon Kelf, Co-Founder of BCN Group commented: “It has been a great experience over the last four years. We have built a market leading management team and importantly created what we set out to achieve. The organic growth supplemented by selected acquisitions have allowed us to become a market leader in the space.”

Adam Rudd, Partner at Beech Tree Private Equity commented: “It has been a fantastic journey working alongside the BCN team and together we have built a business that we can all be proud of. When we backed them in 2018 we could see the potential to create a market leading Microsoft partner capable of supporting the entirety of a customer’s digital transformation journey. Through an alignment of our shared vision and a focused execution of our organic and M&A strategy, we have achieved what we set out to do. We have really enjoyed working with the BCN team and wish them the very best for the future. I am sure with the support ECI will bring the team they will continue on their journey to become the UK’s leading Microsoft focused MSP ”.

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BCN Group has become a leading digital transformation and technology solutions provider in the UK, delivering a range of managed IT services covering both Private and Public Cloud (Microsoft Azure), Microsoft Modern Workplace solutions, application development, data analytics, security, and connectivity to over 1,000 customers. BCN is headquartered in Manchester with 3 further offices across the North, employing over 220 people, including over 170 trained support staff and technical engineers.

BCN’s market-leading organic growth has been supported by 5 strategic acquisitions targeted to augment our rich portfolio of products and services. The most recent acquisitions of Cloud2 and PublicView have deepened BCN’s sector expertise in healthcare by adding PowerApps, Automation, Data Analytics and Data as a Service capabilities to deliver repeatable IP solutions across the sector and beyond.

Advisers to Beech Tree and BCN shareholders:

Corporate Finance – Clearwater International (Carl Houghton, Finn O’Driscoll, Christian Pollard)

Legal – DLA Piper (James Kerrigan, Chris Wilson, Sam Jones)

Financial DD – PwC (Jonathan Cooper, Laura Bound)

Commercial DD – PwC (Nick George, Jeremy Dain)

For more information on ECI partners, click the link here.