Air IT doubles in size after acquiring Netstar & Microtrading

Added by Love Business East Midlands | 27 October 2020

UPDATED: 27 October 2020

Air IT Limited has today announced the acquisition of London-based IT managed service provider (MSP) Netstar UK Limited, and Birmingham-based MSP Microtrading Limited for undisclosed considerations.

These acquisitions are a milestone for the Air IT group and will significantly strengthen its share in the managed IT marketplace, extending its reach into London and the West Midlands.

Recently backed by August Equity Partners LLP, these transactions have enabled the Air IT group to double its size in just nine months; making significant strides towards its goal of becoming the UK’s largest SME focused cloud managed services provider.

Air IT is a leading UK managed service provider delivering fully converged IT solutions, Managed Support, Comms, cyber security, digital transformation, cloud, and business intelligence solutions. The combination of these award-winning businesses brings the benefits of scale, additional technical expertise, and broader geographic reach, with a stronger Leadership team led by CEO John Whitty.

Air IT, Netstar and Microtrading have all been extremely successful in maintaining organic growth over the last three years, consistently delivering greater than 20% year on year growth, serving over 800 clients.

Netstar and Microtrading share similar values as Air IT and continue to be recognised by industry bodies and customers alike for delivering excellent service especially during the recent pandemic, ensuring agile and responsive mission critical capability was available at all times.

Most recently, Air IT was recognised by CRN as the UK’s MSP of the Year for its dedication in delivering innovative technology solutions and excellent customer service.

John Whitty, CEO of Air IT said: "Since the investment and commitment made by August Equity Partners to back our growth strategy, the team have been hunting for solid businesses who share our dedication and ability to serve the SME market.

We are delighted to have found these, despite the recent pandemic, with Netstar and Microtrading who are both extremely capable, successful, and exciting businesses with very talented teams, which will result in the doubling of staff to 140 people.

Like Air IT, they are both famous for delivering excellent service whilst also sharing our strong cultural values. The inclusion of their teams will provide additional depth and expertise to support the innovative and business enhancing services provided to our customers.

These acquisitions represent the first step towards achieving both our organic and acquisitive goals which is supported by a strong and mature pipeline of similar deals.”

Mit Patel, Managing Director and Founder of Netstar commented: “We are delighted to join the Air IT group. Netstar has consistently invested in our people, systems, processes and product portfolio and we will continue to provide excellent service and strategic technology advice to our customers.

Our clients will now further benefit from a broader service portfolio, including Cyber and Business Intelligence (BI) Solutions.”

Andy Penlington and Neil Marlowe, the joint Managing Directors of Microtrading, said: "We have spent almost 40 years developing and growing our business into a successful and agile organisation, and the time is right to take the next step and allow our customers to benefit from our significant joint capability and technical investment. We are all very pleased that the Air IT values and culture are extremely close to those already present within Microtrading, which will make the integration of the businesses so much easier.”

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