Deal sees Aliter portfolio company ITM, a leading UK provider of network infrastructure services, boosted by specialist experience in healthcare ICT managed services
Aliter Capital LLP (Aliter), the private equity buy and build specialist in the UK support services sector, has provided further capital to its portfolio company to complete the acquisition of Bates IT, an Essex based provider of ICT support for the NHS. Bates IT now becomes part of the group in Aliter’s second fund, Aliter Capital II, alongside ITM Communications (ITM), a leading UK provider of critical network and ICT infrastructure services.
Established in 1961, Bates IT operates across the UK, delivering a wide range of ICT managed and support services to critical UK ICT infrastructure, with a core focus on customers in the private and public healthcare sector. The company has built and maintained a sector specialist services pedigree in ICT infrastructure and networking, providing a range of tailor-made manged services to the UK Healthcare sector.
ITM is a market leading critical network and ICT infrastructure services provider. Based in Milton Keynes, ITM supports ICT infrastructure across the UK, with expert capabilities in wired and wireless connectivity, onsite and offsite technical services, critical infrastructure and managed services.
The acquisition of Bates IT follows Aliter’s appointment of highly experienced business leader, Simon Fieldhouse as ITM’s Group CEO in October 2023. Aliter’s original investment in ITM was made from its £134m Aliter Capital II fund in January 2023.
Simon Fieldhouse, Group CEO, said, “The team at Bates IT is a great cultural fit with ITM. Their highly developed specialist experience with long-established customer engagements in the healthcare sector opens exciting growth opportunities for the business. This aligns with our intended development of a specialist healthcare practice within a nationwide critical network and ICT infrastructure service business, delivering an extended managed service portfolio to our customers. Importantly, the companies also share a similar philosophy on customer service and commitment to ESG compliance, underlined by impressive customer retention rates and Bates IT’s well-earned status as a highly trusted adviser.”
Fieldhouse will now work closely with Bates IT’s principal shareholders and directors, Barry and Christopher Fuller, to drive further growth organically, whilst continuing to pursue a nationwide buy and build strategy, to gain scale and a national footprint.
Greig Brown, Aliter Partner said, “The acquisition of Bates IT supports Aliter’s strategy of developing a scaled, UK leading provider of critical network infrastructure services to blue chip customers across a range of non cyclical sectors. We are very excited to work with Simon and the teams at ITM and Bates IT in the next phase of the group’s development, with further acquisitions already in the pipeline.”
Aliter is actively looking to acquire complementary businesses as bolt-ons to the group, with particular interest in aspirational sector specialists in critical network and ICT infrastructure services, with technological transformation capabilities, including IoT, intelligent edge computing, safety and security, 5G, SDWAN and Data Centre and Colocation services.
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