In a move that marks the strength and flexible nature of Chess’ approach to deal making, its latest acquisitions are part of the customer bases of Puma and Sunstone Telecom.
Hemel Hempstead based Puma Telecom and Milton Keynes based Sunstone sold a joint total of around 800 business customers to Chess, and the profile of the customer bases span all business sectors and mainly subscribing to fixed line services.
Chess’ latest deal model demonstrates a new breed of acquisition offering a high degree of flexibility to the vendor. Realising that businesses may need to capitalise on their assets without exiting the market, Chess has developed some novel deal structures to provide the seller with a variety of options.
These latest acquisitions have enabled the owners of Puma and Sunstone to release part of the capital in their assets in order to reinvest into their businesses and achieve future growth. By structuring the deal in this way, Chess is also offering a safety net for companies that may be straining under the weight of the credit crunch.
In the last 12 months, Chess Telecom has also enjoyed a good deal of success with an innovative acquisition model that enables smaller telecoms players to sell their established customer bases to Chess and continue to operate as a Strategic Alliance Partner rather exit the market.
“With 29 acquisitions in the past four years, we have a proven track record of success,” said Chief executive, David Pollock. “This success is the result of a combination of good integration and customer retention, the flexibility to tailor deals to fit in with the sellers’ requirements and the ability to pay well and promptly. We will continue to make the most of the increasing opportunity created by rapid market consolidation. Our list is growing and our flexibility and reputation enables us to approach increasingly significant targets. Expect to see more Chess acquisition news soon.”