Xploite sells Anix. Who next?

(By Richard Holway 9.00am 27th May 09) Xploite (a buy, build and sell AIM-quoted operation) has sold its managed services operation – Anix – for £31.5m; equivalent to a 13.5xEBIT multiple for the year to Oct 08. The buyer is ACS Business Process Solutions Limited a subsidiary of ACS, the Texas-based business process outsourcing and information technology services and solutions provider. You may remember that ACS acquired another IBM reseller – Syan – in Jan 08.

Xploite’s buy, build and sell strategy started in February 2007 when it acquired specialist VAR Posetiv for £4.21m, followed months later by by the purchase of Anix Group Ltd for £10.96m. In October 2007 it spent £3.23m on Red Squared. In December 2008 it purchased the assets of three managed IT services businesses from Cantono for £2m.

As our friend George O’Connor from Panmure Gordon said in this early morning note “The move follows Capita buying Computerland last year, indeed Serco buying ITNET several years back and in fairness Horizon was acquired for its services division by Avenet some 12 months back. We await to see how the offshore companies build their presence in this market – surely the next move. We feel the deal highlights the attraction of a segment where the participants re-configure their business models and unlock large profit uplifts – note the events at Computacenter. Private company 2e2, backed by Duke St, is the next prize in this segment, we feel.”

Very interesting!