Clydesdale Bank backs telecoms acquisition

19/10/2011

Clydesdale Bank Corporate and Structured Finance has provided the debt in a total funding package of £14m for Wireless Logic, the UK’s leading independent Machine to Machine (M2M) communications specialist, which was acquired by Management and ECI Partners from Peter Jones.

Wireless Logic operates in the fast-growing M2M communications market, enabling machines to be monitored remotely via a SIM card connected to a mobile network (e.g. for vehicle fleet management, updating electronic road signs, transmitting information on stock levels in vending machines, transmitting information on medical monitoring machines etc.).

The company partners with all the major mobile networks including Vodafone, Orange and O2 and provides other value added services to its SME customer base.

The capability of SIM-enabled machines to transmit and receive information instantaneously improves efficiency, reduces costs and improves response times. Applications include vehicle-tracking, smart-metering, home and business security and intelligent health monitoring. The M2M market is forecast to experience rapid growth of more than 30% per annum.

Wireless Logic was ranked 25th in the Sunday Times’ Tech Track 2010 league table of the UK’s fastest-growing private technology companies and was formed in 1999 by the current Managing Director, Oliver Tucker, and Sales and Marketing Director, Philip Cole – both highly experienced operators in the telecoms and technology industries.

Alison Taylor, Director for Clydesdale Bank’s Corporate and Structured Finance team in London, said: “It is a real privilege for Clydesdale Bank to have the opportunity to support ECI and Wireless Logic, which impressed us as being a business uniquely placed to take advantage of exceptional growth opportunities. The strength of the proposition was such that both the equity and debt processes were highly competitive and we were able to put our funding in place within five weeks of our first meeting with the management team.”

Chris Warren, Director of ECI, commented: “The possible applications for M2M technology are virtually limitless and we are extremely excited by the potential of Wireless Logic in this rapidly growing market. We are looking forward to working with the management team and assisting the company in its continuing expansion and market development.”

Oliver Tucker, Managing Director, commented: “We moved quickly to secure a commanding market position in this exciting and rapidly developing M2M market and have created a business model that adds value to our clients and that creates attractive recurring revenues. We look forward to building on our position as market leaders with continual development in our software platform and increasing our service and value-adds to our channel customers.”

Philip Cole, Sales and Marketing Director, commented: “We are excited to be moving on to the next stage in our company’s development and expect to benefit from ECI’s backing and knowledge of our sector. We will continue to drive growth in the UK and further European expansion is our next stop.”