CYBER SECURITY and IT specialist Bluecube has been sold to cloud solutions and managed services company Ekco.
The acquisition is the largest in the Dublin-based company’s history and its fourth in the past 12 months as Ekco continues its expansion programme.
The deal doubles the size of Ekco’s UK operations and takes the company’s revenue beyond €150 million.
Bluecube, founded in 2003 by its current chief executive James Hawker, has grown to become a leading managed service business. Its security operations centre in Milton Keynes will enable dedicated IT security services to be delivered in the UK on behalf of Ekco’s local clients. The acquisition will also add enhanced critical recovery capability to Ekco’s portfolio of services, which will further bolster its incident response offer – many organisations struggle to respond to cyber incidents such as ransomware, phishing and malware.
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Main picture: James Hawker (left), CEO of Bluecube, with Ekco’s chief operating officer Jonathan Crowe.
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The “transformative” acquisition positions Ekco as a key player in the UK MSP space.
Mr Hawker said: “At Bluecube our team has built a reputation on providing customer-centred services that address the ever-changing requirements of a diverse range of organisations.
“There is a close cultural fit between the two companies and we see multiple benefits from the deal for both staff and customers alike.”
Ekco has undergone rapid expansion across all its major markets in Europe in recent years, fuelled by a mix of organic and M&A-led growth. It also has a US office in Boston and currently employs more than 860 people, almost 600 of whom are engineers.
Its co-founder and chief operating officer Jonathan Crowe said: “This deal forms a key part of our overall growth strategy, which is driven by a vision of unlocking the full potential of insightful and responsive IT and cyber security solutions to our growing customer base.
“Having access to Bluecube’s 200+ people, all with specialist skills, as well as their impressive list of customers, made this an easy decision for us. As soon as we met the Bluecube team, we knew they would be a great operational and cultural fit for Ekco and would significantly enhance our ability to serve our UK customers.”
The managed service space is a rapidly expanding part of the IT sector globally. Clients require a known and trusted cybersecurity partner as threats become ever more sophisticated. in the face of ever-evolving and increasingly sophisticated threats. The sector is expected to grow to a global value of almost $1 trillion in the next ten years.
“Organisations throughout the country lean heavily on their MSP to underpin their IT services with security, efficiencies and expertise.,” Mr Crowe said. “These are business critical functions and, with this deal, we are able to expand our best-in-class services to both new and existing clients.”
Ekco’s growth continued in 2023 after securing the backing of Corten Capital, a London-based fund that invests in entrepreneur-led B2B technology platforms.
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